Explanation:
On rare occasions, the Earth and Moon are photographed together.
One of most spectacular times this occurred was 25 years ago this month when the
Jupiter-bound
Galileo spacecraft
zoomed past our home planetary system.
Then, robotic Galileo watched from about 15-times the
Earth-Moon
separation as
our only natural satellite
glided past our home world.
The featured video combines 52 historic
color-enhanced images.
Although our Moon may
appear small next to the
Earth,
no other planet in our Solar System has a
satellite
so
comparable
in
size
.
The Sun,
far off to the right, illuminated about half of each sphere, and shows the spinning
Earth's
white clouds,
blue oceans, and tan continents.
Tonight, a nearly full
Oak
supermoon
will be visible from all of Earth from sunset to sunrise.
Free APOD Lectures:
January 5 in NYC & January 9 in DC
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
