Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: From January 1 to February 25 2013, a pinhole camera sat in a field near Budapest, Hungary, planet Earth to create this intriguing solargraph. And for 45 days, an old Antonov An-2 biplane stood still while the Sun rose and set. The continuous exposure began about 10 days after the northern hemispere's winter solstice, so each day the Sun's trail arcs steadily higher through the sky. The days in the Sun were recorded on a piece of black and white photosensitive paper tucked in to the simple plastic film container, but the long exposure produced color in the visible image that was then digitally scanned. Of course, cloudy days left gaps in the solargraph's Sun trails.