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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Planets Ahoy!
Explanation: Can you spot the Solar System's four rocky planets ? In the above image taken on September 20, all of them were visible in a single glance, but some of them may be different than you think. Pictured above , the brightest and highest object in the sky is the planet Venus . The object lowest in the sky is the planet Mars , while the object furthest to the left is the planet Mercury . The last remaining point of light is . . . the bright star Spica , which leaves the question -- where is the fourth rocky planet? That would be Earth , specifically part of Australia , visible across the entire bottom of the image.
| Date | September 30, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Mike Salway ( IceInSpace ) |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |