Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: This evocative mosaic image of the Earth-Moon system was recorded by NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft earlier this month. The relative sizes shown are appropriate for viewing both the Earth and Moon from a distance of about 250,000 miles, although the apparent brightness of the Moon has been increased by about a factor of five for the sake of appearances. This space-based perspective is a unique one, the bland and somber Lunar Southern Hemisphere contrasting strongly with blue oceans, swirling clouds, and the bright icy white continent of Antarctica on planet Earth. Though its lack of atmosphere and oceans make it relatively dull looking, the Earth's moon is one of the largest moons in the solar system - even larger than the planet Pluto. During this recent flyby of the Earth-Moon system, the NEAR spacecraft used Earth's gravity to deflect it towards its ultimate destination, the Asteroid 433 Eros. It is scheduled to arrive at Eros in January 1999.

這幅以地球-月球系統為主題的引人入勝拼接影像，是由NASA的近地小行星會合號（NEAR）太空船於本月稍早時所拍攝的。 影像所呈現的相對大小，為在40萬公里遠處觀看地球和月球之所見。 而為了美觀起見，月球的表面亮度經過人為增亮約5倍。 這種太空視角的影像是獨一無二的，其中月球單調的南極區，和地球藍色的海洋、渦狀雲及亮白色的南極大陸，形成了強烈的對比。 儘管缺乏大氣和海洋的月球，看起來相對沉悶，但它卻是太陽系中最大的衛星之一，甚至比冥王星還要大 在最近的地球-月球系統飛越中，NEAR太空船借助於地球的重力，偏轉其軌道以航向其最終目的地小行星433 Eros（愛神星），目前預計在1999年1月抵達愛神星。