New images from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover show Earth shining brighter than any star in the Martian night sky.
The rover’s view of its original home planet even includes our Moon, just below Earth.
The images, taken about 80 minutes after sunset during the rover’s 529th Martian day (Jan. 31, 2014) are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17936 for a broad scene of the evening sky, and at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17935 for a zoomed-in view of Earth and the Moon.
The distance between Earth and Mars when Curiosity took the photo was about 99 million miles (160 million kilometers).
This view of the twilight sky and Martian horizon taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover includes Earth as the brightest point of light in the night sky. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/TAMU.