The sky on
your birthday.
“The View Toward M101” is copyrighted by Fritz Helmut Hemmerich. NASA has permission to show it and we don't, so it isn't on this card.
See it on NASA's siteComet Catalina, with its dust and ion tails clearly separated, swept past Earth on January 17, 2016. In this image, it appears near the grand spiral galaxy M101 in Ursa Major. M101 is nearly twice the size of our Milky Way and sits about 27 million light-years away. Both the comet and the distant galaxy are still in motion, though on vastly different timescales.
The Sun on 21 January 2016
NASA SDO took this picture on 21 January 2016, 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.
Prints are coming soon. The card is free to save and share in the meantime.
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 21 January 2016 See it as a poster -
The Earth on your day The Earth on 21 January 2016 · Eye of the Sahara, Mauritania See it as a poster -
Released on 21 January 2016 Hubble Unveils a Tapestry of Dazzling Diamond-Like Stars See it as a poster -
Released on 21 January 2016 Dazzling diamonds of Trumpler 14 See it as a poster -
Released on 21 January 2004 Empty Nest See it as a poster -
Released on 21 January 2025 The city lights of Lima, Peru See it as a poster -
Released on 21 January 2025 The city lights of Buenos Aires, Argentina See it as a poster
In tropical astrology, 21 JAN 2016 falls under Aquarius (♒). The sign's window runs from 01-20 through 02-18. Aquarius is home to the Helix Nebula, the closest planetary nebula to Earth. The Sun was crossing this region of the sky on 21 JAN 2016.
Questions about January 21, 2016
What space photo was released on January 21, 2016?
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 21, 2016 was "The View Toward M101". 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 January 21, 2016?
A waxing gibbous moon, about 90% lit.
What day of the week was January 21, 2016?
January 21, 2016 was a Thursday, day 21 of the 366 days in 2016.
What did the Sun and the Earth look like on January 21, 2016?
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.