Astronomy Picture of the Day—20181227

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2018 December 27

Earthrise1: Historic Image Remastered

ImageCredit: NASA, Apollo 8 Crew, Bill Anders; Processing and License: Jim Weigang

Explanation:"Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! Here's the Earth coming up.Wow is that pretty!" Soon after that pronouncement, 50 years ago today,one of the most famous images ever taken was snapped from the orbit of theMoon. Now known as "Earthrise", the iconic image shows the Earthrising above the limb of the Moon, as taken by the crew of Apollo 8. But thewell-known Earthrise image was actually the second image taken of the Earthrising above the lunar limb -- it was just the first in color. With moderndigital technology, however, the real first Earthrise image -- originally inblack and white -- has now been remastered to have the combined resolution and colorof the first three images. Behold! The featured image is a close-up of thepicture that Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders was talking about. Thanks to moderntechnology and human ingenuity, now we can all see it. (Historical note: Adifferent historic black & white image of the Earth setting behind thelunar limb was taken by the robotic Lunar Orbiter 1 two years earlier.)