Crescent Rhea

Artemis II Lunar Crescent View

High Contrast Crescent

Crescent View of Mercury

Io - Crescent with Plumes

Titan Crescent View

A Glowing Crescent Moon

A couple of craters share a crescent of lit terrain on Saturn moon Rhea.

Craters on a Crescent

A small crescent of the moon Rhea is dwarfed by the larger crescent of Saturn in this image captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft. Rhea can be seen in the upper right of the image.

Crescents Large and Small

This view captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft looks toward the trailing hemisphere of Titan. Titan south polar vortex mimics the moon itself, creating an elegant crescent within a crescent.

Titan Crescents

Waning Crescent

Waning crescent. Low to the east before sunrise. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Its laser altimeter (LOLA) and camera (LROC) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO. To download, learn more about this visualization, or to see what the Moon will look like at any hour in 2015, visit <a href="http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?4236" rel="nofollow">svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?4236</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

Waxing Crescent

Waxing crescent. Visible toward the southwest in early evening. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Its laser altimeter (LOLA) and camera (LROC) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO. To download, learn more about this visualization, or to see what the Moon will look like at any hour in 2015, visit <a href="http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?4236" rel="nofollow">svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?4236</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

A thin crescent of cratered terrain is illuminated on Saturn third largest moon, Dione in this image captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

Crescent Dione

Crescent Enceladus

Waxing crescent

Waxing crescent. Visible toward the southwest in early evening. This marks the first time that accurate shadows at this level of detail are possible in such a computer simulation. The shadows are based on the global elevation map being developed from measurements by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). LOLA has already taken more than 10 times as many elevation measurements as all previous missions combined. The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. When a month is compressed into 12 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. This wobble is called libration. The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead. The Moon is subject to other motions as well. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by more than 10%. The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases, caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. By first quarter, the Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight. The full Moon rises at sunset and is high in the sky at midnight. The third quarter Moon is often surprisingly conspicuous in the daylit western sky long after sunrise. Celestial north is up in these images, corresponding to the view from the northern hemisphere. The descriptions of the print resolution stills also assume a northern hemisphere orientation. To adjust for southern hemisphere views, rotate the images 180 degrees, and substitute "north" for "south" in the descriptions. Credit: <a href="http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

Waning Crescent

Waning crescent. Low to the east before sunrise. This marks the first time that accurate shadows at this level of detail are possible in such a computer simulation. The shadows are based on the global elevation map being developed from measurements by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). LOLA has already taken more than 10 times as many elevation measurements as all previous missions combined. The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. When a month is compressed into 12 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. This wobble is called libration. The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead. The Moon is subject to other motions as well. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by more than 10%. The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases, caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. By first quarter, the Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight. The full Moon rises at sunset and is high in the sky at midnight. The third quarter Moon is often surprisingly conspicuous in the daylit western sky long after sunrise. Celestial north is up in these images, corresponding to the view from the northern hemisphere. The descriptions of the print resolution stills also assume a northern hemisphere orientation. To adjust for southern hemisphere views, rotate the images 180 degrees, and substitute "north" for "south" in the descriptions. Credit: <a href="http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

Saturn, which appears as only a thin, lit crescent, broken only by the shadows of its rings, poses gracefully for NASA Cassini spacecraft cameras.

Plumes and a Crescent

Quiet and cold, a crescent Tethys floats above the nearly edge-on rings of Saturn. The only surface features visible on Tethys 1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across from this distance are a few impact craters

Cratered Crescent

Full-disk Color Image of Crescent Saturn with Rings and Ring Shadows

Crescents of Neptune and Triton

Crescent-shaped Earth and Moon

A crescent Saturn appears nestled within encircling rings in this image captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft. Clouds swirl through the atmosphere of the planet. Prometheus appears as a speck above the rings near the middle of the image.

Rings Around a Crescent

View of crescent Moon setting as seen by the Expedition 43 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Crescent Moon set sequence

Crescent Earth and Moon

Distant Waning Crescent Earth

art002e014225 (April 6, 2026) – Seen from afar, Earth appears as a small, delicate waning crescent suspended in the darkness of space, captured by the crew during the Artemis II mission. Only a thin sliver of the planet is illuminated, resembling the familiar crescent phases often seen when observing the Moon from Earth. Despite its distance, faint hints of Earth’s blue tones and cloud patterns are visible, offering a striking perspective of our home planet from deep space.

This image shows a crescent Uranus, a view that Earthlings never witnessed until Voyager 2 flew near and then beyond Uranus on Jan 24, 1986. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00346

Color Voyager 2 Image Showing Crescent Uranus

art002e014066 (April 6, 2026) – The Artemis II crew captures an image of a crescent Earth on their journey around the Moon.

Earth’s Crescent from Lunar Orbit

iss071e256627 (June 30, 2024) -- A waning crescent moon hangs against the black of space as the International Space Station orbited 258 miles above Italy.

A Waning Crescent Moon Above Italy

art002e015231 (April 6, 2026) – The Artemis II crew captures a faint view of a crescent Earth above the horizon on the Moon’s far side.

Crescent Earth Over Lunar Horizon

$The low angle of sunlight along the slim crescent of Saturn's moon Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) highlights the many fractures and furrows on its icy surface. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Enceladus, which is dimly illuminated in the image above by sunlight reflected off Saturn. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 14 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with NASA's Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 26, 2016. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 104,000 miles (168,000 kilometers) from Enceladus. Image scale is 3,303 feet (1 kilometer) per pixel. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21330$

Slim Crescent of Ice

The low angle of sunlight along the slim crescent of Saturn's moon Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) highlights the many fractures and furrows on its icy surface. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Enceladus, which is dimly illuminated in the image above by sunlight reflected off Saturn. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 14 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with NASA's Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 26, 2016. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 104,000 miles (168,000 kilometers) from Enceladus. Image scale is 3,303 feet (1 kilometer) per pixel. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21330

Capturing the Details of the Moon and the Beauty of Earth

art002e021110 (April 6, 2026) – As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth. Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc – except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew. Earth is in a crescent phase, with sunlight coming from the right. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over muted blue in the Australia and Oceania region. Credit: NASA

ISS006-E-48519 (28 April 2003) --- A crescent moon was photographed by an Expedition Six crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

View of the crescent moon during Expedition Six

A View of Crescent Jupiter from Juno

If you could ride along with NASA's Juno spacecraft as it approaches Jupiter during one of its regular close passes by the giant planet, you would be treated to a striking vista similar to this one. Unlike the Moon or Venus, this view of Jupiter in a crescent phase is impossible to see from Earth, even using a telescope. Since Jupiter's orbit is outside Earth's, an observer on Earth can only see the side of Jupiter that is illuminated by the Sun, so the planet always appears full. Citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill created this mosaic using raw data from the JunoCam instrument. It comprises seven images taken during Juno's 39th close pass by Jupiter on Jan. 12, 2022. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25013

iss071e407666 (July 29, 2024) -- A waning crescent moon hangs in the deep black of space as the International Space Station orbited 270 miles above the South Pacific Ocean.

A waning crescent moon hangs against the black of space

Crescent Moon Ahead of Flyby

art002e019570 (April 7, 2026) – On flight day seven, following their lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew captured this view of a delicate crescent Moon on their journey back to Earth. Along the terminator—the boundary between lunar day and night—low-angle sunlight casts long shadows that accentuate craters, ridges, and subtle variations in terrain. The softly illuminated surface highlights the Moon’s rugged landscape, while much of it remains in shadow. Credit: NASA

Crescent Jupiter with the Great Red Spot

This image of a crescent Jupiter and the iconic Great Red Spot was created by a citizen scientist (Roman Tkachenko) using data from Juno's JunoCam instrument. You can also see a series of storms shaped like white ovals, known informally as the "string of pearls." Below the Great Red Spot a reddish long-lived storm known as Oval BA is visible. The image was taken on Dec. 11, 2016 at 2:30 p.m. PST (5:30 p.m. EST), as the Juno spacecraft performed its third close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 285,100 miles (458,800 kilometers) from the planet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21376 . - Enhanced image by Roman Tkachenko (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Crescent Tethys and Rings

Tethys, dwarfed by the scale of Saturn and its rings, appears as an elegant crescent in this image taken by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. Views like this are impossible from Earth, where we only see Saturn's moons as (more or less) fully illuminated disks. The region of Saturn seen at left is on the planet's night side. Reflected light from the rings dimly illuminates the planet's northern hemisphere. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Tethys. North on Tethys is up and rotated 24 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Aug. 18, 2015. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 184,000 miles (296,000 kilometers) from Tethys. Image scale is 11 miles (18 kilometers) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18348

$A single crescent moon is a familiar sight in Earth's sky, but with Saturn's many moons, you can see three or even more. The three moons shown here -- Titan (3,200 miles or 5,150 kilometers across), Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), and Rhea (949 miles or 1,527 kilometers across) -- show marked contrasts. Titan, the largest moon in this image, appears fuzzy because we only see its cloud layers. And because Titan's atmosphere refracts light around the moon, its crescent "wraps" just a little further around the moon than it would on an airless body. Rhea (upper left) appears rough because its icy surface is heavily cratered. And a close inspection of Mimas (center bottom), though difficult to see at this scale, shows surface irregularities due to its own violent history. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Titan. North on Titan is to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 25, 2015. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 2.7 million miles (4.3 million kilometers) from Titan. Image scale at Titan is 16 miles (26 kilometers) per pixel. Mimas was 1.9 million miles (3.0 million kilometers) away with an image scale of 11 miles (18 kilometers) per pixel. Rhea was 1.6 million miles (2.6 million kilometers) away with an image scale of 9.8 miles (15.7 kilometer) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia18322$

Triple Crescents

A single crescent moon is a familiar sight in Earth's sky, but with Saturn's many moons, you can see three or even more. The three moons shown here -- Titan (3,200 miles or 5,150 kilometers across), Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), and Rhea (949 miles or 1,527 kilometers across) -- show marked contrasts. Titan, the largest moon in this image, appears fuzzy because we only see its cloud layers. And because Titan's atmosphere refracts light around the moon, its crescent "wraps" just a little further around the moon than it would on an airless body. Rhea (upper left) appears rough because its icy surface is heavily cratered. And a close inspection of Mimas (center bottom), though difficult to see at this scale, shows surface irregularities due to its own violent history. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Titan. North on Titan is to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 25, 2015. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 2.7 million miles (4.3 million kilometers) from Titan. Image scale at Titan is 16 miles (26 kilometers) per pixel. Mimas was 1.9 million miles (3.0 million kilometers) away with an image scale of 11 miles (18 kilometers) per pixel. Rhea was 1.6 million miles (2.6 million kilometers) away with an image scale of 9.8 miles (15.7 kilometer) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia18322

Peeking at the Earth

art002e009286 (April 6, 2026) – As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth setting on the Moon’s limb. The edge of the visible surface of the Moon is called the “lunar limb.” Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc – except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew. In this photo, the dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime, while Australia and Oceania are in the daylight. In the foreground, the Ohm crater is visible, with terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks—formed when the surface rebounded upward during the impact that created the crater.

art001e002190 (Dec. 7, 2022) Orion continues its journey home to Earth, which appears here as a crescent, still 234,000 miles away. The Artemis I spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 11.

Flight Day 22: Orion and Crescent Earth

art001e002192 (Dec. 7, 2022) Orion continues its journey home to Earth, which appears here as a crescent, still 234,000 miles away. The Artemis I spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 11.

Flight Day 22: Orion and Crescent Earth

art001e002191 (Dec. 7, 2022) Orion continues its journey home to Earth, which appears here as a crescent, still 234,000 miles away. The Artemis I spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 11.

Flight Day 22: Orion and Crescent Earth

iss073e0118626 (May 25, 2025) --- An external high definition camera adjusted for night sensitivity took this photograph of the waning crescent Moon above Earth's horizon as the International Space Station orbited into a sunrise 270 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.

The waning crescent Moon above Earth's horizon

A Distant Crescent of Home

art002e014211 (April 6, 2026) - Seen side-by-side from deep space, the Moon and Earth share the frame—yet Earth appears as a small, delicate crescent against the blackness beyond. At this stage, Orion is approaching the Moon’s farside, placing the image earlier in the flyby, before closest approach during Artemis II. Though both worlds are visible, the scale and distance between them become immediately clear, offering a powerful perspective of how far the crew has traveled from home. Even in its reduced size, Earth’s soft glow stands out, a reminder of the only world we’ve ever known. Credit: NASA

STS061-56-027 (2-13 Dec 1993) --- This scene, captured with a 35mm camera from inside the Space Shuttle Endeavour, shows Jupiter rising above the airglow over Earth's horizon. The crescent Moon is at top frame.

Earth-orbiting HST, airglow over Earth's horizon, and crescent moon

Two slim crescents smile toward the Cassini spacecraft following an occultation event

Rhea Releases Enceladus

Jupiter

The waning crescent Moon is pictured from the International Space Station

art001e001939 (Dec. 2, 2022) A camera mounted on one of Orion’s four solar arrays captured this image of the Moon on flight day 17 of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission from a distance of more than 222,000 miles. Orion has exited the distant lunar orbit and is heading for a Dec. 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Artemis I FD 17 Orion and a Crescent Moon

Cassini coasts beneath giant Saturn, staring upward at its gleaming crescent and icy rings

Magnificent Vista

The bright crescent of Saturn moon Enceladus slides past distant Rhea in this mutual event, or occultation, movie from Cassini

Enceladus Transits Rhea

Resembling a thin ribbon wrapped around the crescent of the planet, Saturn rings are seen edge-on by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

Io Sodium Cloud Clear and Green-Yellow Filters

Beyond the ansa of Saturn rings, a crescent Rhea completes this ring-and-moon composition captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

Rhea and Rings

NASA Cassini spacecraft looks toward a crescent of Saturn moon Iapetus and glimpses a bit of that moon yin-yang appearance.

Sliver of Iapetus

View of crescent moon and the planet Venus during Expedition Six

ISS006-E-48523 (28 April 2003) --- A crescent moon (right) and the planet Venus were photographed by an Expedition six crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS). As a result of overexposure, the dark part of the moons terrain is visible, which is faintly lit by Earthshine (sunlight reflected from our planet onto the moon). Earths horizon is visible in the lower left portion of this image.

Shadow-striped Saturn and its exquisitely thin rings occupy the near field in this Cassini spacecraft view, while a crescent Rhea hangs in the distance

In Orbit with Rhea

$NASA Cassini spacecraft pictures a crescent of Saturn moon Rhea. Although craters dominate this particular view, the trailing hemisphere of Rhea also features wispy fractures.$

A Few Rhea Craters

A crescent Iapetus shows, at the top right of this image from NASA Cassini spacecraft, some of the dark terrain characterizing this unusual Saturnian moon.

A Slice of Iapetus

This animation show two crescent moons dance around Saturn as far-off Dione slips behind its sibling moon Rhea

Rhea Eclipses Dione Animation

This MOC image shows crescent-shaped, scooped-out hollows where wind has eroded the local bedrock in the Apollinaris Sulci region

Windy Work

Only Cassini could provide this enchanting, natural color view of crescent Saturn, which gazes down onto the unlit side of the planet spectacular rings

Greetings from Saturn

Peeking over the crescent of Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft views the towering plume of ice particles erupting from the moon south polar region

Icy Emanations

This image of the crescent moon was obtained by the Galileo Solid State imaging system on December 8 at 5 a.m. PST as NASA Galileo spacecraft neared the Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00224

Moon - Western Near Side

ARC-1978-AC78-9052

ARC-1978-A78-9052

A Full View of Pluto Stunning Crescent

In September, NASA's New Horizons team released a stunning but incomplete image of Pluto's crescent. Thanks to new processing work by the science team, New Horizons is releasing the entire, breathtaking image of Pluto. This image was made just 15 minutes after New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015, as the spacecraft looked back at Pluto toward the sun. The wide-angle perspective of this view shows the deep haze layers of Pluto's atmosphere extending all the way around Pluto, revealing the silhouetted profiles of rugged plateaus on the night (left) side. The shadow of Pluto cast on its atmospheric hazes can also be seen at the uppermost part of the disk. On the sunlit side of Pluto (right), the smooth expanse of the informally named icy plain Sputnik Planum is flanked to the west (above, in this orientation) by rugged mountains up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) high, including the informally named Norgay Montes in the foreground and Hillary Montes on the skyline. Below (east) of Sputnik, rougher terrain is cut by apparent glaciers. The backlighting highlights more than a dozen high-altitude layers of haze in Pluto's tenuous atmosphere. The horizontal streaks in the sky beyond Pluto are stars, smeared out by the motion of the camera as it tracked Pluto. The image was taken with New Horizons' Multi-spectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) to Pluto. The resolution is 700 meters (0.4 miles).