Moon Gallery

First Picture of the Earth and Moon in a Single Frame

This picture of the Earth and Moon in a single frame, the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft, was recorded September 18, 1977, but NASAs Voyager 1 when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. The moon is at the top of the picture and beyond the Earth as viewed by Voyager. In the picture are eastern Asia, the western Pacific Ocean and part of the Arctic. Voyager 1 was directly above Mt. Everest (on the night side of the planet at 25 degrees north latitude) when the picture was taken. The photo was made from three images taken through color filters, then processed by the Image Processing Lab at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Because the Earth is many times brighter than the Moon, the Moon was artificially brightened by a factor of three relative to the Earth by computer enhancement so that both bodies would show clearly in the prints. Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977 and Voyager 2 on August 20, 1977. JPL is responsible for the Voyager mission

© NASA

Jupiter and Io, New Horizons image

Jupiter and Io. Montage of images of Jupiter (left) and its moon Io (right), obtained by the New Horizons spacecraft in February and March 2007 as it passed Jupiter on its way to Pluto. The image of Jupiter was obtained with its infrared spectrometer (LEISA). The different colours show high-altitude clouds (blue), and deeper clouds (red). The Great Red Spot (lower left) is blue and white. The Io image was obtained in approximate true colour with a long-range camera (LORRI) and a multispectral camera (MVIC). The red dot on the nightside of Io is an eruption of the Tvashtar volcano. The volcanic plume (blue) seen above the eruption is 330 kilometres high. Jupiter is the solar system's largest planet

© NASA/JHU/APL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Phases of the Moon

Phases of the Moon. Composite image showing the Moon at each stage of its 28 day cycle (a lunar month). Along the top row, the Moon is a waxing (growing in apparent size) crescent, reaching a half Moon after 7 days. For the next seven days it is a waxing gibbous (between half and full), reaching a full Moon (far right of second row) after 14 days. The Moon is then a waning (decreasing in apparent size) gibbous, reaching another half moon 21 days into the cycle. On the bottom row it is a waning crescent, reaching the new Moon stage at bottom right. The phases of the Moon are due to it revealing differing amounts of its sunlit face as it orbits the Earth. Photographed from Santorini on 3rd - 30th June 2000

© ECKHARD SLAWIK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY