Earth  Planets and Moons  ID: 4068

Earth and Moon

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on May 31, 2013
A simple visualization of Moon orbiting Earth in a view from the north ecliptic pole.

There are two versions. The standard version has Earth and Moon at the proper scale in relation to their orbit. The oversize version has Earth and Moon five times larger.

The animation run corresponds to a time of three months. The camera orientation is fixed in space (relative to the distant stars) so the stars do not move but we see the changing direction of the Sun based on the lit hemisphere of Earth and Moon.

Download Options
A view of Moon orbiting Earth from a point above the north ecliptic pole. Objects are to scale.
Download Options
A view of Moon orbiting Earth from a point above the north ecliptic pole. Moon and Earth are five times larger than their true scale.

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4068

Data Used:
JPL DE421 also referred to as: DE421
Ephemeris - NASA/JPL
Planetary ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
SVS >> Earth
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Moon
SVS >> Solar System >> Orbits
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons