Cloudy Gallery

Earth, Sun and Moon

Earth, Sun and Moon. Artwork of the Earth, Sun and Moon seen from space. Earth is centred on Europe. Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is thought to be the only planet in the solar system that can support life. The Moon (upper right) has a diameter just over a quarter of the Earth's. It orbits at a distance of around 385, 000 kilometres, taking nearly 30 days for one orbit. It does not have an atmosphere and is a heavily cratered and barren piece of rock. The Earth-Moon system orbits the Sun (upper centre) at a distance of about 150 million kilometres. The bright band of the Milky Way runs across the background

© Detlev Van Ravenswaay/Science Photo Library

Io and Jupiter, Cassini image

Io and Jupiter, Cassini image. Io, the round object at left, is one of the largest of the moons of Jupiter. Clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere form the backdrop to this image. Io has a diameter of 3642 kilometres, but Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, dwarfs its moon, with a diameter of 142, 984 kilometres. Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons, orbiting Jupiter at a distance of 350, 000 kilometres from its cloudtops. Image obtained on 1 January 2001 by Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)

© NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Moon rising over Earths horizon

Moon rising over Earth's horizon, composite image. The blue haze of Earth's atmosphere can be seen above the horizon. Earth is thought to be the only planet in the solar system that can support life. The Moon (at centre) has a diameter just over a quarter of the Earth's. It orbits at a distance of around 385, 000 kilometres, taking nearly 30 days for one orbit. It does not have an atmosphere and is a heavily cratered and barren piece of rock

© DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY