Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:How many moons can you see?
The best answer is five: four orbiting JupiterandLunaorbiting Earth.
This multi-moon picture was possible because Earth’s Moonmoved directlyin frontof Jupiterlast week.
Thefeatured imageis a series of exposures near alignment taken from Westchester, New York,USA.
The sunlit crescent of Earth’s Moon, on the lower left, is overexposed, while the Moon’s night side, on the upper right, is faintly illuminated byEarthshine.
Lined upnearly verticallyabove our Moon, listed from bottom to top, are Jupiter’s bright Galilean satellites: Ganymede, Io, Callisto, and Europa.
Callisto, Ganymede, and Ioare larger than Earth’s Moon, while Europais only slightly smaller.
NASA’s robotic spacecraft Junois currently orbiting Jupiterand has made close passes near three of these moons.
Tomorrow’s picture:stairway to heaven