Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation:

這是太空船NEAR路過時所見到的地球。 NEAR（近地小行星會合）太空船於1996年，從地球美國佛羅里達州發射。 去年6月，NEAR快速飛越了小行星馬蒂爾德，二週前在前往小行星433 Eros的途中路過地球。 在上面這幅代表色影像裡，可以看到地球南半球的西側。 較醒目的特徵包括：覆蓋著白雪的南極洲和渦旋狀大範圍伸展的雲系。 影像右側可見到蔚藍的海洋和南美洲的部分地區。

This is how Earth appeared to the passing spacecraft NEAR. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft was launched from Florida, USA, planet Earth in 1996. After a quick flyby of asteroid Mathilde in June last year, NEAR passed the Earth two weeks ago on its way to asteroid 433 Eros. Visible on the above representative-color picture is the western part of Earth's Southern Hemisphere. Prominent features include the white snow-covered Antarctica and swirling and extended cloud systems. Oceans appear blue and part of South America is visible on the right.