Planetary Society logo
  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Emily Lakdawalla • Jun 17, 2013

Favorite space images: "Many Worlds"

For this evening's Planetary Radio Live event, Mat Kaplan asked me to do a presentation of some favorite space images. I told him that picking favorite space images is like picking favorite children; it's not possible because they're all my favorite. To narrow things down, I decided to explore a theme. In my big space images library I have a special tag that I use for when a photo contains more than one planetary body: "Many Worlds." You can view all the images in the library that have the Many Worlds tag; below is the list of photos I showed in my talk.

Dione in front of ringmoons
Dione in front of ringmoons Cassini captured the images for this mosaic on 12 December 2011. The five images used in this mosaic were taken sequentially, and the background moons shifted positions between frames; this composition does not actually reflect a confluence of moons that happened at one distinct moment in time. From left to right, the ringmoons are Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Pandora.Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / Emily Lakdawalla
Phobos and Jupiter
Phobos and Jupiter On June 1, 2001, Mars Express watched as Phobos (the inner and larger of Mars' two moons) slipped past distant Jupiter. Phobos is only 23 kilometers in diameter, while Jupiter is 142,000 kilometers across! The image has been rotated from the original so that the south pole of Phobos is down. Stickney crater takes a bite out of the moon to the left.Image: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Let’s Go Beyond The Horizon

Every success in space exploration is the result of the community of space enthusiasts, like you, who believe it is important. You can help usher in the next great era of space exploration with your gift today.

Donate Today