Starship Asterisk*

Does this image represent only asteroids found in the orbital plane of the earth? Wouldn't a two dimensional image representing a three dimensional space show some higher densities toward the center of the image, assuming that the gravitational effect of the sun would draw them into a spherical shape?

I thought because Mercury had an orbit so close to the sun that it almost never appeared in the night sky. In this photograph it appears so far above the horizon... I can visualize the angles that would create that scenario but I have never seen it that far away from the sun before.

Now I understand. Thank you for the explanation.

I wondered if the chart linked from the APOD page might be for a solar eclipse. Since the size of the shadow cast by earth's umbra is greater than the size of the moon then it would cover the entire surface area of the moon. How would it be possible for it to obscure varying degrees of lunar visibil...