
ALT A starfield filled with thousands of stars and shining clouds of dust. The Milky Way\u2019s elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms wrapping off the ends of a central bar of stars. Spanning more than 100,000 light-years, Earth is located along one of the galaxy\u2019s spiral arms, about halfway from the center. Credit: NASA

ALT The Moon, backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse, is photographed by NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the Moon\u2019s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars. Credit: NASA

ALT A full disk image of Earth, as seen from the Orion capsule. The planet is a pale blue, swirling with white clouds and glowing slightly lighter blue in place from reflected light. From about 8 to 9 o'clock, a large brown landmass is Africa, with the Iberian peninsula twinkling with lights just where the planet curves. At the 1 o'clock spot, aurora glow in a thin green glow, just barely separated from the planet's surface. Earth is set against the black of space. Credit: NASA/Reid Weisman



























