The sky on
your birthday.
“NGC 281: Cluster, Clouds, and Globules” is copyrighted by Chris Sauer. NASA has permission to show it and we don't, so it isn't on this card.
See it on NASA's siteNGC 281 is a busy workshop of star formation. Prominent features include a small open cluster of stars, a diffuse red-glowing emission nebula, large lanes of obscuring gas and dust, and dense knots of dust and gas in which stars may still be forming. The open cluster of stars, IC 1590, visible near the center, formed only in the last few million years. The brightest member of this cluster is a multiple-star system whose light helps ionize the nebula's gas, causing the red glow.
The Earth on 20 October 2004 · Eye of the Sahara, Mauritania
NASA Terra took this picture on 20 October 2004, the day itself, not a release date.
We cannot put this date's photograph on paper at poster size. We can print the nearest public archive plate to your date instead.
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Released on your day
Space pictures released on your month and day in other years, or a few days either side. Each one is sharp enough to print as a poster.
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The Earth on your day The Earth on 20 October 2004 · Eye of the Sahara, Mauritania See it as a poster -
Released on 20 October 2025 NGC 3370 (wide view) See it as a poster -
Released on 20 October 2025 Focusing on NGC 3370 See it as a poster -
Released on 20 October 2019 Pluto at Night See it as a poster -
Released on 20 October 2024 The Niger River flows through the African nation of Mali See it as a poster -
Released on 20 October 2025 Comet Lemmon appears approximately 55.4 million miles from Earth See it as a poster
In tropical astrology, 20 OCT 2004 falls under Libra (♎). The sign's window runs from 09-23 through 10-22. Libra is the only zodiac constellation named for an inanimate object, the scales of judgment. The Sun was crossing this region of the sky on 20 OCT 2004.
Questions about October 20, 2004
What space photo was released on October 20, 2004?
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 20, 2004 was "NGC 281: Cluster, Clouds, and Globules". It's a photographer's copyrighted image, so we link to it on NASA's site and show the Sun or the Earth that day instead.
What was the Moon's phase on October 20, 2004?
A first quarter moon, about 40% lit.
What day of the week was October 20, 2004?
October 20, 2004 was a Wednesday, day 294 of the 366 days in 2004.
Was there a meteor shower on October 20, 2004?
Yes: the Orionid shower, peaks tomorrow.
What did the Sun and the Earth look like on October 20, 2004?
NASA's Terra satellite photographed the whole Earth that day. It's on this page, next to the card.
Is it free?
Yes. Seeing, sharing and downloading the card is free, and there's no account to make.