APOD 1.1

The 09/01/2010 picture shows the Earth and Moon as viewed from the MESSENGER space probe. Although the emergency slingshot maneuvers from science fiction like Sunshine and Star Trek may be without the grasp of modern science, space probes like the MESSENGER do make extensive of gravity and the planets to complete their voyages. MESSENGER's main purpose was to search for vulcanoids between Mercury and the Sun, but along the way, it captured this humbling picture of Earth and the Moon. The star far to the right of the pair is delta Scorpii, and some of the bright objects at the top are not stars but cosmic ray strikes. I expected the Earth and the Moon to be much farther apart because the distance between them is 60 terran radii. Perhaps their perceived proximity is due to the light reflecting off of them making them seem larger, or the Moon may simply have been almost between Earth and MESSENGER.