                        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.

                              2021 September 5

                               Earth and Moon
   Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Project; Processing & License: Gordan
                                  Ugarkovic

   Explanation: The Earth and Moon are rarely photographed together. One
   of most spectacular times this occurred was about 30 years ago 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.

                    Tomorrow's picture: firefly milkyway
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.


