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Collection:
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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
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Title:
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The Ecliptic Plane
Title
The Ecliptic Plane
Title
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Explanation:
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The Plane of the Ecliptic is well illustrated in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft. Clementine's star tracker camera image reveals (from right to left) the Moon [ http://lunar.arc.na…] lit by Earthshine, the Sun's corona [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] rising over the Moon's dark limb, and the planets Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa…], Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], and Mercury [ http://sd-www.jhuap…]. The ecliptic plane is defined as the imaginary plane containing the Earth's orbit around the Sun. In the course of a year, the Sun's apparent path [ http://www.astro.wi…] through the sky lies in this plane. The Solar System's [ http://space.jpl.na…] planetary bodies all tend to lie near this plane, since they were formed from the Sun's spinning, flattened, proto-planetary disk [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The snapshot above nicely captures a momentary line-up looking out along this fundamental plane of our Solar System [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
The Plane of the Ecliptic is well illustrated in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft. Clementine's star tracker camera image reveals (from right to left) the Moon [ http://lunar.arc.na…] lit by Earthshine, the Sun's corona [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] rising over the Moon's dark limb, and the planets Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa…], Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], and Mercury [ http://sd-www.jhuap…]. The ecliptic plane is defined as the imaginary plane containing the Earth's orbit around the Sun. In the course of a year, the Sun's apparent path [ http://www.astro.wi…] through the sky lies in this plane. The Solar System's [ http://space.jpl.na…] planetary bodies all tend to lie near this plane, since they were formed from the Sun's spinning, flattened, proto-planetary disk [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The snapshot above nicely captures a momentary line-up looking out along this fundamental plane of our Solar System [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Explanation
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Credit and Copyright:
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Credit_and_Copyright
Credit and Copyright
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keyword:
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sky
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keyword:
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solar system
keyword
solar system
keyword
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keyword:
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ecliptic
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facet_where:
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Mars
facet_where
Mars
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Mercury
facet_where
Mercury
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Saturn
facet_where
Saturn
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Mars
facet_what
Mars
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Mercury
facet_what
Mercury
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Saturn
facet_what
Saturn
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini
facet_what
Cassini
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Snapshot
facet_what
Snapshot
facet_what
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facet_what:
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MESSENGER
facet_what
MESSENGER
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Star Tracker
facet_what
Star Tracker
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Clementine
facet_what
Clementine
facet_what
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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UID:
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SPD-APOD-ap001014
UID
SPD-APOD-ap001014
UID
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