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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.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Moons and Bright Mars

Explanation: In this serene view , the moons of Earth along with the bright planet Mars shine above the city of Turku near the southwestern tip of Finland. Of course Earth's large natural satellite, the Moon , at a distance of 400,000 kilometers, is by far the brightest object in this sky. But growing brighter and closer by the hour , Mars appears as the impressively bright “star” at the right, about 64 million kilometers from Turku . Streaking across the twilight sky between the two celestial beacons, Earth's largest artificial moon, the International Space Station , orbits about 400 kilometers above the planet's surface. To capture the moment, amateur astronomer Petteri Kankaro used a digital camera and combined exposures beginning at 23:34 Universal Time on July 17th .

Date August 1, 2003
Credit Credit & Copyright: Petteri Kankaro
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.