Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                                 2020 May 4

                         Earth Flyby of BepiColombo
                Image Credit & License: ESA, BepiColombo, MTM

   Explanation: What it would look like to approach planet Earth? Such an
   event was recorded visually in great detail by ESA's and JAXA's robotic
   BepiColombo spacecraft last month as it swung back past Earth on its
   journey in to the planet Mercury. Earth can be seen rotating on
   approach as it comes out from behind the spacecraft's high-gain antenna
   in this nearly 10-hour time-lapse video. The Earth is so bright that no
   background stars are visible. Launched in 2018, the robotic BepiColombo
   used the gravity of Earth to adjust its course, the first of nine
   planetary flybys over the next seven years -- but the only one
   involving Earth. Scheduled to enter orbit in 2025, BepiColombo will
   take images and data of the surface and magnetic field of Mercury in an
   effort to better understand the early evolution of our Solar System and
   its innermost planet.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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