Photos of Earth from the Moon
Written by Fraser Cain
We're so familiar seeing our home planet from down on the ground, but let's take a look at what our planet is like from another world. Here are some photographs of Earth taken from the Moon; either in orbit, or by astronauts on the surface.
This is one of the most famous photographs ever taken. It was captured by NASA astronaut Bill Anders as Apollo 8 was orbiting the Moon. This was the first time that humans had ever gone into orbit around another object in the Solar System. Seeing the entire Earth as a tiny ball hanging in space was nothing short of life changing.
Here's another version of Earthrise. This was captured recently by the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft. It captured a series of images as it orbited around the Moon. Over a period of time, the Earth seems to rise above the horizon of the Moon. Of course, you'd never see the Earth rise if you were on the surface of the Moon. Since the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, it's always shows the same face. The Earth would just hang in the sky, day in and day out.
Filed under: Astronomy
