Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Sun Mar 16 2025 00:25:00

                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 March 16
    An image of the Sun in three colors of ultraviolet light showing the
    transit circle of Venus and a deep coronal hole in dark blue. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                    Venus and the Triply Ultraviolet Sun
        Image Credit: NASA/SDO & the AIA, EVE, and HMI teams; Digital
                         Composition: Peter L. Dove

   Explanation: This was a very unusual type of solar eclipse. Typically,
   it is the Earth's Moon that eclipses the Sun. In 2012, though, the
   planet Venus took a turn. Like a solar eclipse by the Moon, the phase
   of Venus became a continually thinner crescent as Venus became
   increasingly better aligned with the Sun. Eventually the alignment
   became perfect and the phase of Venus dropped to zero. The dark spot of
   Venus crossed our parent star. The situation could technically be
   labeled a Venusian annular eclipse with an extraordinarily large ring
   of fire. Pictured here during the occultation, the Sun was imaged in
   three colors of ultraviolet light by the Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics
   Observatory, with the dark region toward the right corresponding to a
   coronal hole. Hours later, as Venus continued in its orbit, a slight
   crescent phase appeared again. The next Venusian transit across the Sun
   will occur in 2117.

                         Tomorrow's picture: big hat
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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