14. Earth-Moon Conjunction


Note: Click on Solar System Exploration: Galileo Legacy Site (NASA-JPL) to get this image at its highest resolution.

This remarkable view of the Moon in orbit about Earth was taken 8 days after the Earth/Moon 2 Encounter.
The Moon is in the foreground; its orbital path is from left to right.
At the bottom of Earth's disk, Antarctica is visible through clouds.
Some of the Moon's far side can also be seen.
The shadowy indentation in the Moon's dawn terminator - the boundary between its dark and lit sides - is the South Pole-Aiken Basin, the largest and oldest impact basin in the solar system.
December 16, 1992. Range, 6.2 million kilometers (3.9 million miles).

This image of Galileo's final view of the Earth and Moon was constructed from images taken through the violet, red, and 1.0-micron (40 millionths of an inch) infrared filters.
The brightly-colored Earth contrasts strongly with the Moon, which reflects only about one-fifth as much sunlight as Earth.
Contrast and color have been computer-enhanced for both objects to improve visibility.


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Link to: Solar System Exploration: Galileo Legacy Site (NASA - JPL)


Updated: October 16 '96

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