NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, stationed aboard the ISS, captured this amazing photograph of Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Earth coming into near alignment. PetaPixel said: “The glowing atmosphere of the Earth can be seen at the top of the frame. The largest white spot is the Moon, the second largest is Venus, and the smallest is Jupiter. While Venus is a much smaller planet than Jupiter, it’s also a lot closer to Earth.” Continue reading for a video showing what the moon would look like from Earth if it were as close as the International Space Station.
“If the Moon were that close – 420 kilometers (260 miles) over the surface of the Earth – it would be more than 100° in size, literally more than half the sky! Right now it’s a mere 0.5° in size, for comparison (which is actually even smaller than you think). It’s neat how it appears to rotate, too, though that’s really just perspective; it’s the same effect that makes it look like features are sinking below the horizon as you orbit. Yeti dynamics also explains that the color of the Moon is from reflected Earthlight: The blue is from the Gulf of Mexico, and the greenish-tan from the United States. It’s dark in the middle because with the Moon blocking the Sun for so much of the Earth, there’s no light to reflect and illuminate the Moon there,” according to Slate.
