Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... Because the plane of Mercury's orbit is not exactly coincident with the plane of Earth's orbit, Mercury usually appears to pass over or under the Sun. The Earth and Moon from Mars . ... What does Earth look like from Mars? ... Spiral Galaxy NGC 253 Almost Sideways . ... Half-shadowed by the Earth, the Moon takes on a remarkable appearance against a field of stars in this intriguing telephoto picture recorded during a partial phase of last week's lunar eclipse. ...