                        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.

                              2024 November 23

                            Interplanetary Earth
    Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA / JHU
               Applied Physics Lab / Carnegie Inst. Washington

   Explanation: In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was
   photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System,
   innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured on the
   left, Earth is the pale blue dot just below the rings of Saturn, as
   captured by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting the outermost
   gas giant. On that same day people across planet Earth snapped many of
   their own pictures of Saturn. On the right, the Earth-Moon system is
   seen against the dark background of space as captured by the sunward
   MESSENGER spacecraft, then in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER took its image
   as part of a search for small natural satellites of Mercury, moons that
   would be expected to be quite dim. In the MESSENGER image, the brighter
   Earth and Moon are both overexposed and shine brightly with reflected
   sunlight. Destined not to return to their home world, both Cassini and
   MESSENGER have since retired from their missions of Solar System
   exploration.

                  Tomorrow's picture: interstellar journey
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

