The Solar System from MESSENGER
Explanation:
If you looked out from the center of the Solar System, what would you see?
Nearly
such
a view was taken recently from the
MESSENGER spacecraft currently
orbiting the Sun from the distance of
Mercury.
The Sun's planets all appear as points of light, with the closest and largest planets
appearing the brightest.
The
planets
all appear to orbit in the same direction and are (nearly) confined to the same
great circle around
the sky -- the
ecliptic plane.
Mercury,
Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn are all visible in the above horizontally
compressed image, while the positions of Uranus and Neptune are labeled even
though they are too faint to make out.
Pluto, which has had its
planetary status recently called into
question, is much too faint to see.
Earth's Moon is visible, however, as are the
Galilean moons of Jupiter.
The
above image is the reverse of
one taken from the outside of the Solar System in 1990
by
Voyager 1.
MESSENGER, which has
flown by Mercury three times now, is on schedule to
enter orbit
around the Solar System's innermost planet next month.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
