I am a native in this world And think in it as a native thinks

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Astronomy Tuesday


Another image from the Artemis II mission, taken by the commander, Reid Wiseman.

The sun is behind the Earth in this picture, lighting up an arc of atmosphere on the lower right edge. At the top and bottom of the globe you can see the green glow of the auroras. And, look, there's Venus, making a cameo appearance in the lower right.

But my favorite thing about this image is that it's upside down—at least in the way we usually think of directions. That's the South Pole at the top of the picture, and at the bottom you can see the Sahara Desert in Africa, with a little piece of Spain and Portugal below.

It's fun to be reminded that there is no up or down in space, and while it's useful to have conventions like north is up and south is down, they're just that—conventions.

Image credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

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