Friday, September 3, 2010

Earth and Moon as viewed from the planet Mercury

See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download  the highest resolution version available.




What does Earth look like from the planet Mercury? The robotic spacecraft MESSENGER found out as it looked toward the Earth during its closest approach to the Sun about three months ago. The Earth and Moon are visible as the double spot on the lower left of the above image. Now MESSENGER was not at Mercury when it took the above image, but at a location from which the view would be similar. From Mercury, both the Earth and its comparatively large moon will always appear as small circles of reflected sunlight and will never show a crescent phase. MESSENGER has zipped right by Mercury three times since being launched in 2004, and is scheduled to enter orbit around the innermost planet in March of 2011.


via APOD: 2010 September 1 - Earth and Moon from MESSENGER.

If you are ever taken up by aliens and they bring you back to the solar system and you have to point out where you live, this photo could save your life.

2 comments:

Ann said...

"If you are ever taken up by aliens ... this photo could save your life." Ha! Nice comment.

Just think, that planet with that large moon holds all of humanity, all the billions of us, all of our history, our evolution, everything. It's all there on the thin surface of that planet. That planet, nothing more than a spec in space, is absolutely all we are.

Too bad we're destroying it.

Mandy said...

Well said....