                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 August 8
     Earth Moon, in crescent phase, is seen just above the image center.
   Directly below is a bright spot surrounded by four other spots, all in
    a row, which are all moons of Jupiter. Please see the explanation for
                         more detailed information.

                             Moon Meets Jupiter
                      Credit & Copyright: Jordi L. Coy

   Explanation: What's that below the Moon? Jupiter -- and its largest
   moons. Many skygazers across planet Earth enjoyed the close conjunction
   of Earth's Moon passing nearly in front of Jupiter in mid-June. The
   featured image is a single exposure of the event taken from Morón de la
   Frontera, Spain. The sunlit lunar crescent on the left is overexposed,
   while the Moon's night side, on the right, is only faintly illuminated
   by Earthshine. Lined up diagonally below the Moon, left to right, are
   Jupiter's bright Galilean satellites: Callisto, Ganymede, Io (hard to
   see as it is very near to Jupiter), and Europa. In fact, Callisto,
   Ganymede, and Io are larger than Earth's Moon, while Europa is only
   slightly smaller. NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno is currently orbiting
   Jupiter and made a close pass near Io only a week ago. If you look up
   in the night sky tonight, you will again see two of the brightest
   objects angularly close together -- because tonight is another
   Moon-Jupiter conjunction.

                   Tomorrow's picture: falling space dust
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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