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Photograph of Jupiter and Earth along with moons; taken from position of Mars (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by narblynibbles

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[–]Angus99 19 points20 points ago

"No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, they observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world. Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us."

:)

[–]DeCiWolf 4 points5 points ago

War of the Worlds :)

[–]Vadersays 1 point2 points ago

You're creepin me out!

[–]SHdude 1 point2 points ago

The book was much better than the films.

[–]intisun 0 points1 point ago

Bacteria...

[–]narblynibbles[S] 28 points29 points ago

http://i.imgur.com/ReK5l.gif

[–]daznificent 18 points19 points ago

This just puts into perspective exactly how large Jupiter is.

[–]not_so_eloquent 0 points1 point ago

The camera must be zoomed considerably don't you think? because it shows that earth is closer to Jupiter in that position and it certainly wasn't that large in our night sky. Perhaps its our atmosphere, but I'd imagine something that large would be seen quite visibly.

[–]Destructor1701 0 points1 point ago

Yes, the camera is zoomed in.

[–]swordgeek 6 points7 points ago

Gorgeous! What is this from?

[–]CantWearHats 19 points20 points ago

It was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera in 2003. You can read more about it here.

[–]ButtmudSlurpee 1 point2 points ago

Sweet Jesus that's awesome!

[–]fetusovaries 4 points5 points ago

Are Earth and Jupiter on different planes of orbit? Is that why they are so far apart? I can't picture it in my head.

[–]_bar 4 points5 points ago

Far apart? I'd say it's a really close conjunction, considering the apparent sizes of the planets

[–]this_sort_of_thing 0 points1 point ago

I think I get what you mean, but I can't fully...care to explain or provide a link to an explanation... ELI5, almost

[–]rebelappliance 0 points1 point ago

All 8 planets orbit in about the same plane, with a few degree variation. This is called inclination. Inclination is a natural consequence of the gravitational effect the planets have on one another, and perhaps planetary formation. Jupiter's inclination is 1.3°, for reference Earth's is 0°.

[–]B12Mega 1 point2 points ago

Looking at the sunlight angle, and the deceptive similarity in size, It seems that the earth is very near and that Jupiter is very far. Jupiter's diameter is ten times that of earth, and its orbit is ridiculously large. And they are almost exactly in the same plane, it's just that this image magnifies the tiny difference, which may be more a result of the orbit of the observer (Surveyor) being distant from the orbital plane of Mars, but I'm not sure about that.

Edit: What narblynibbles said.

[–]dontgoatsemebro 2 points3 points ago

We think of the planets being roughly in the same plane but the distances are huge. A couple of degrees across solar distances are huge.

Jupiter is only on a 1.31 degree inclination to the ecliptic... but over 630x106 km (the average distance between earth and jupiter) that's displacement in the Z axis of 150,000,000 km. Further than the distance between the Earth and the Sun!

[–]alsomahler 2 points3 points ago

Where are the stars?

[–]CantWearHats 7 points8 points ago

Jupiter and Earth (in fact, most planets) are much brighter than most stars in the night sky*, so to take this photograph the camera's exposure time would not be sufficient to pick up any stars. If it were, Earth and Jupiter would be washed-out. It's the same reason you don't see stars in photos taken on the Moon.

*To clarify, obviously planets only reflect the Sun's light and don't emit their own, but since they're much closer than stars they appear brighter. In scientific terms, we say they have a lower apparent magnitude (the apparent magnitude scale goes in reverse so a brighter object has a lower value).

[–]kalven 1 point2 points ago

In addition to what CantWearHats said: the image is not a single exposure. Two different grayscale images were taken, contrast enhanced, colorized and then composited.

[–]letsgobruins 1 point2 points ago

Maybe I'm just having trouble with the perspective, and I know Jupiter is further away, etc...but why does Jupiter appear to be "below" Earth?

EDIT: Aren't all planets on the same plane; just nearer or further from the sun?

[–]USSMunkfish 1 point2 points ago

They're roughly on the same plane, or ecliptic. Everything has at least a little orbital inclination though, just as orbits are elliptical and not perfectly circular.

[–]Knoerifaust 0 points1 point ago

that is just... amazing !

[–]adamwho 0 points1 point ago

It is interesting how they don't all share the same orbital plane.

[–]memw85 0 points1 point ago

Wow. We look big.

[–]bbbinson123 0 points1 point ago

history in the making

[–]Pentay 0 points1 point ago

I'd say that's our generation's awesome space photo, but there may be more to come.

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