Earth – Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

This color picture of Antarctica is one part of a mosaic of pictures covering the entire Antarctic continent taken during the hours following Galileo's historic first encounter with its home planet. The view shows the Ross Ice Shelf. An occasional mountain can be seen poking through the ice. It is late spring in Antarctica, so the sun never sets on the frigid, icy continent. This picture was taken on December 8, 1990.

Credit: NASA/JPL