The sky on
your birthday.
“Messier 6 and Comet Siding Spring” is copyrighted by CARA Project. NASA has permission to show it and we don't, so it isn't on this card.
See it on NASA's siteThis image shows Comet Siding Spring and the open star cluster Messier 6 in Scorpius. The greenish coma and tail of the comet are actually 2,000 light-years away from the cluster's stars, but they appear close together along the same line of sight. On October 19th, this comet will pass within 139,500 kilometers of Mars. That is about ten times closer than any known comet has passed Earth.
The Sun on 17 October 2014
NASA SDO took this picture on 17 October 2014, 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 Sun on your day The Sun on 17 October 2014 See it as a poster -
The Earth on your day The Earth on 17 October 2014 · Empty Quarter, Arabia See it as a poster -
Released on 17 October 2008 The Mimas Atlas See it as a poster -
Released on 17 October 2005 Dione in Full View See it as a poster -
Released on 17 October 2006 Colliding galaxies make love, not war See it as a poster -
Released on 17 October 2006 Wide view of the Antennae galaxies (ground-based image) See it as a poster -
Released on 17 October 2010 NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud See it as a poster
In tropical astrology, 17 OCT 2014 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 17 OCT 2014.
Questions about October 17, 2014
What space photo was released on October 17, 2014?
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 17, 2014 was "Messier 6 and Comet Siding Spring". 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 17, 2014?
A last quarter moon, about 39% lit.
What day of the week was October 17, 2014?
October 17, 2014 was a Friday, day 290 of the 365 days in 2014.
Was there a meteor shower on October 17, 2014?
Yes: the Orionid shower, peaks in 4 days.
What did the Sun and the Earth look like on October 17, 2014?
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the Sun that day, and NASA's Terra satellite photographed the whole Earth. Both are 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.