Family Portrait(MESSENGER)
TheSolar System Family Portraitis an image of many of theSolar System's planets and moons acquired byMESSENGERduring November 2010 from approximately the orbit of Mercury. Themosaicis intended to be complementary to theVoyager 1'sFamily Portraitacquired from the outer edge of the Solar System on February 14, 1990.[1]
The portrait was constructed using 34 individual frames acquired using the Mercury Dual Imaging System, targeting areas surrounding each planet. The first series of images was acquired on November 3, 2010, and the second on November 16.[2]
Sixplanetsare visible in the mosaic. From left to right:Venus,Earth,Jupiter,Mars,Mercury,andSaturn.UranusandNeptunewere too small to resolve at this distance (3.0-billion and 4.4-billion kilometers respectively). Careful effort was taken to avoid facing the camera toward the Solar System's central star, theSun,due to the intense heat at close distance.
Several moons are visible in the photo, including the Earth'sMoon,and all fourGalilean moons:Callisto,Ganymede,Europa,andIo.Additionally, part of theMilky Wayis visible between Neptune and Mars.[2]
BecauseMESSENGERdoes not follow the same orbital plane as the Earth, the cameras on the spacecraft had to point up and down from theeclipticto capture all of the planets. This resulted in a curved mosaic.[2]
Although somewhat closer to Earth, a similar so-called family portrait of the Earth, Venus and Mars was taken by theSolar Orbiterspacecraft on 18 November 2020.[3]
See also[edit]
- Family Portrait,taken byVoyager 1,February 14, 1990
References[edit]
- ^NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Solar System from MESSENGER (23 February 2011)
- ^abc"A Solar System Family Portrait, from the Inside Out".NASA.NASA. February 18, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon April 3, 2017.RetrievedFebruary 10,2022.
- ^Starr, Michelle (30 January 2021)."Family Photo Snapped by Solar Orbiter Shows Venus, Earth And Mars Gleaming Like Stars".ScienceAlert.Retrieved31 January2021.
