The sky on
your birthday.
“A Transit of Mercury” is copyrighted by Howard Brown-Greaves. NASA has permission to show it and we don't, so it isn't on this card.
See it on NASA's siteOn May 9, 2016, Mercury passed in front of the Sun, a transit captured here from London. The tiny planet, seen as a dark circle, shares the solar disk with prominences and active regions. This event was the third of 14 such transits in the 21st century. Mercury's disk is the only dark spot, despite the Sun's other features.
The Sun on 12 May 2016
NASA SDO took this picture on 12 May 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.
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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 12 May 2016 See it as a poster -
The Earth on your day The Earth on 12 May 2016 · Gobi Desert See it as a poster -
Released on 12 May 2010 M72: A Globular Cluster of Stars See it as a poster -
Released on 12 May 2004 Spirit Keeps on Trekking polar eye See it as a poster -
Released on 12 May 2004 Spirit Keeps on Trekking vertical eye See it as a poster -
Released on 12 May 2022 First image of our black hole See it as a poster -
Released on 12 May 2025 Capturing candyfloss clouds See it as a poster
In tropical astrology, 12 MAY 2016 falls under Taurus (♉). The sign's window runs from 04-20 through 05-20. Taurus holds the Pleiades star cluster and Aldebaran, the red giant that marks the eye of the Bull. The Sun was crossing this region of the sky on 12 MAY 2016.
Questions about May 12, 2016
What space photo was released on May 12, 2016?
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 12, 2016 was "A Transit of Mercury". 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 May 12, 2016?
A first quarter moon, about 31% lit.
What day of the week was May 12, 2016?
May 12, 2016 was a Thursday, day 133 of the 366 days in 2016.
What did the Sun and the Earth look like on May 12, 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.