Oct 16 2009Coool!: Earth And Jupiter In The Same Photo
This is an amazing photograph of the earth (and moon) and Jupiter (and a few of its moons) in the same frame. Now I know what you're thinking, and no, God didn't take this one.
Sometimes the planets line up in such a way that you can see Earth and Jupiter in the same wide-angle shot. That is, if you were aboard the Mars Global Surveyor on May 22, 2003. When the Mars Orbiter Camera snapped this unique view, Earth was 86 million miles away, and Jupiter was 600 million miles away.
Wow, that really gets you thinking, doesn't it? Like about how far objects in space are from one another. Really far. And speaking of which -- will one of you be so kind as to walk the remote over here?
Hit the jump to see a diagram explaining how the planets were aligned.
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Reader Comments
1. jacob - October 16, 2009 2:04 PM
First?
2. naas - October 16, 2009 2:06 PM
@1 ghey, pathetic & old
3. Closet Nerd - October 16, 2009 2:07 PM
I once got a picture when my balls were aligned with my grundle.
It was like a Double Epcot Center at the end of a runway.
4. Closet Nerd - October 16, 2009 2:09 PM
Seriously though, that is a really cool picture.
Just thinking about space and how far away other planets and galaxies really are (i.e. billions of lightyears away) makes my head feel like its gonna explode, just trying to comprehend the distance.
5. ralph_squared - October 16, 2009 2:10 PM
@2: jealous
6. JOHN MAGOO!!!!!!!! - October 16, 2009 2:13 PM
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. JOHN MAGOO!!!!!!!! - October 16, 2009 2:13 PM
LD!
8. jimmy - October 16, 2009 2:20 PM
ITS OVER 9000!!!
9. gizmoduck - October 16, 2009 2:22 PM
its coming right for us!
10. Ham Bone - October 16, 2009 2:31 PM
This really makes me think ... you know how insignificant everyone but me is
11. hsoj spillihp - October 16, 2009 2:35 PM
this picture would be so much better if i could see uranus.
12. E - October 16, 2009 2:37 PM
thats neat!!! not in the gay way either.
13. GoSS Jerk no longer sterilized for your pleasure - October 16, 2009 2:38 PM
@ 1 http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q226/phatboimikey/hfgrb.jpg gtfo firstard
14. friendlystoner - October 16, 2009 2:38 PM
love how even tho jupiter is about 8 times further away than earth in this shot, it still dwarfs the earth
15. GoSS Jerk no longer sterilized for your pleasure - October 16, 2009 2:39 PM
@ 11 , you sure you can't see it, i'm spreading so wide it hurts...
16. WhoMe? - October 16, 2009 2:49 PM
I dont really get how Jupiter can show up so large from mars and not be more visable from Earth. According to the diagram the Earth is closer so can anyone explain why it isn't much larger in our sky?
17. Dishy Dishyington - October 16, 2009 2:51 PM
The shadow's are all wrong. The earth is waxing while Zeus-patter is full.
I think you can see Luna, just a little white dot. Sigh, poor wittle ting. Not a big pizza pie at all.
18. Dishy Dishyington - October 16, 2009 2:54 PM
@16, sometimes Jupiter gets very big in our sky, bigger than the moon. It's an atmospheric lensing effect. No doubt this picture was taken during a heavy solar wind.
19. Closet Nerd - October 16, 2009 2:58 PM
@15 I see it.
http://www.randomn3ss.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/pumpkin13.jpg
20. Historygeek1989 - October 16, 2009 3:03 PM
I'm calling BS on this. As Dishy Dishyington said @17, the shadows are wrong. The sun is a constant, and if the E is half in shadow, so we should see J like that (anything but full visible). Or are we saying that in reality there is a second smaller sun behind J that is always hidden from us here on E?
21. naas - October 16, 2009 3:10 PM
@5 no
22. Ham Bone - October 16, 2009 3:14 PM
i am sick of the uranus joke ... i propose we change the name of uranus to urectum
23. Avery Henderson - October 16, 2009 3:15 PM
Not quite historygeek... take a look at the diagram again. The Earth is more 'beside' the Sun, relative to Mars, while Jupiter is further off, getting the full shine.
24. emptyaddy - October 16, 2009 3:32 PM
"..........wow, you can almost see all the nerds typing in "first" like it was 1994 from here........"
25. naas - October 16, 2009 3:35 PM
@22 you mean urpoopshootingmudtunnelfunnel didn't make it in the planetary naming committee? damn I thought for sure they'd pick that one
26. Dishy Dishyington - October 16, 2009 4:41 PM
@22, I agree. I vote for Urmomsanus.
27. naaas - October 16, 2009 4:47 PM
FIRST!!!
28. 95_9C1 - October 16, 2009 5:08 PM
28
29. Shiyan - October 16, 2009 5:31 PM
FAKE! all these space shots are fake and nasa is fake cause all these are photoshopped.
30. Common Sense - October 16, 2009 5:43 PM
I feel obligated to let you all know this is pointless. Every planet can be in the same photograph if the photograph is big enough. Like this one.
Better luck next time, NAS-holes.
31. wimble thimble face - October 16, 2009 6:10 PM
@17- seriously? just look at the diagram and it makes sense.
32. Dishy Dishyington - October 16, 2009 6:57 PM
@31, no I wuz kidding. The shadows make sense.
I was serious about Luna however. I looking at that dot, at 2 o'clock from earth, about half a cm out. But the moon's about 30 earth diameters away. Still possible tho, if she's way out front or behind in her orbit.
33. naas - October 16, 2009 7:50 PM
@31 - @17 was right, he's not kidding. It's just not as obvious in the picture above as it is here http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Uw91icJn-go/SSrHOZbrMSI/AAAAAAAAAos/7pZtH_UnjAw/s800/9f0f1478129b.jpg
34. dd - October 16, 2009 11:50 PM
I'm pretty sure jupiter gives off it's own light.
35. dd - October 17, 2009 12:01 AM
I take that back. it gives off it's own heat, not light. My bad.
36. asdsadsad - October 17, 2009 3:23 AM
We need Daisy here, because obviously, this is a photoshop job.
37. AtomicCoffee - October 17, 2009 8:47 AM
I can see my house.
I agree with @22, but we should call it "Urvagina".
38. michael - October 17, 2009 12:18 PM
@32
Concerning the moon: This is no neat textbook diagram, this is a real photograph. So, I’ll let you think for a moment and give you, as a present, your own little aha moment. (I also had one after thinking for a moment about the problem posed in your comment.) How is it possible for the moon to be closer than thirty earth diameters on a photograph? It is, just think about it for a moment.
39. Dishy Dishyington - October 17, 2009 1:10 PM
@38, yeah I know, if the moon's way out in front or behind in her orbit, lined up with earth & eye.
Also consider that the moon is 1/4 the diameter of earth, so I'd've thought it'd show up as a small crescent in that pic. Which it is, if you look close.
And since Luna's more reflective than earth, that dot should be more than 1/16th as bright. Is it?
40. Geekolojew - October 19, 2009 8:12 AM
Must See!!!
http://alturl.com/obg7
________________
41. Alias1234 - October 19, 2009 3:18 PM
So now God has a respectable version of Photoshop huh
42. Petethekilla - October 19, 2009 4:36 PM
What the hell, there's a little gray speck on my screen that wont wipe away next to the Earth
43. joey - January 19, 2010 8:46 PM
look at the moon! its barely there!