The night sky on the night of the Beijing 2008 Olympic opening ceremony — 8 August 2008
The Beijing Summer Olympics opened at 8:08 p.m. on 8 August 2008 — 08/08/08 — in the National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest. The ceremony, directed by Zhang Yimou, featured 2,008 drummers, and former gymnast Li Ning lit the cauldron after 'running' around the rim of the stadium on wires.
The sky over Beijing National Stadium ("Bird's Nest"), China
This is the real sky above Beijing National Stadium ("Bird's Nest"), China (39.99°N, 116.40°E) on 8 August 2008 at 20:08 CST (UTC+8) — the start of the ceremony (2008-08-08 12:08 UTC). The Sun was 9° below the horizon: twilight was fading and the stars were coming out. The Moon (first quarter, 47% lit) was 21° up in the south-west. Planets above the horizon: Jupiter (21° in the south-east), Saturn (3° in the west) and Mars (8° in the west). Brightest named stars up: Arcturus, Vega, Altair, Spica and Antares.
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