Starship Asterisk*

Earth and Moon from Beyond

Explanation: What do the Earth and Moon look like from beyond the Moon? Although frequently photographed together, the familiar duo was captured with this unusual perspective in late 2022 by the robotic Orion spacecraft of NASA's Artemis I mission as it looped around Earth's most massive satellite and looked back toward its home world. Since our Earth is about four times the diameter of the Moon, the satellite’s seemingly large size was caused by the capsule being closer to the smaller body. Artemis II, the next launch in NASA’s Artemis series, is currently scheduled to take people around the Moon in 2025, while Artemis III is planned to return humans to lunar surface in late 2026. Last week, JAXA's robotic SLIM spacecraft, launched from Japan, landed on the Moon and released two hopping rovers.

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Good angle, good view, good perspective. Not so usual. I also like that we are able to see some portion of moon that we never get to see from earth but I wish we could see it better (I'm thinking the cameras on Artemis I don't have good resolution), i've never seen so much large portion of the moon so smooth like a white marble.. no signs of neither craters, nor signs of any hills..

shaileshs wrote: ↑Wed Jan 24, 2024 5:56 am Good angle, good view, good perspective. Not so usual. I also like that we are able to see some portion of moon that we never get to see from earth but I wish we could see it better (I'm thinking the cameras on Artemis I don't have good resolution), i've never seen so much large portion of the moon so smooth like a white marble.. no signs of neither craters, nor signs of any hills..

It's actually much more uneven and cratered than appears in the APOD. The far side doesn't have the large dark "sea" areas of the near side, but is almost completely covered in craters.

The Far Side by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

Has the Webb telescope ever taken a picture like this one, from its position in Lagrange point far outside the moon's orbit?
Or is it not possible because of its construction, or even forbidden because of the Sun sitting in that direction?

Jeez, what a lousy camera.

I was going to ask if that was the best resolution available? It is a great image but horrible resolution.

"Image credit: Unknown" - Now that would be exciting! And scary.

To be fair, for those criticizing the resolution and "crappy camera", this APOD appears to be a crop of a much larger picture that shows Orion in clear focus.

See the "looked back" link in the description, and its pic: