This image captured by NASA's Psyche spacecraft shows Earth and our Moon from a distance of 290 million km (180 million miles) away.
The images were captured on 20 and 23 July 2025 during one of the Psyche spacecraft's checks of its science instruments.
More amazing Chandra observations
Multiple long exposures of up to 10 seconds were captured to create the final image, showing our home planet and natural satellite as tiny specks against the blackness of space.
If you've ever observed a planet such as Venus or Mars and noted which constellation it's in at that moment in time, consider this.
In this image, Earth and the Moon are located within the constellation Aries, as the background starfield shows.
If an extra-terrestrial astronomer were looking at us, they might talk about 'that little blue planet currently in Aries'.
About Psyche
The Psyche spacecraft launched on 13 October 2023 on its way to a metal-rich asteroid, also called Psyche.
Asteroids are remnants left over from the formation of the Solar System, and so studying one up close can tell scientists a lot about how Earth and the other planets that orbit the Sun formed.
A gravity assist fly-by of Mars in 2026 is planned to give the spacecraft enough energy to reach its target asteroid in the summer of 2029.
About Psyche's Earth image
The image of Earth and the Moon was captured by Psyche as part of a routine test of its science instruments.
Psyche's multispectral imager instrument is a pair of cameras equipped with filters and telescope lenses, designed to photograph asteroid Psyche’s surface in different wavelengths of light.
That's because the colour and shape of the asteroid's spectrum can reveal details about what it’s made of.
Psyche scientists hope the mission will help them understand more about the formation of rocky planets with metallic cores, including Earth.
They choose targets for imager testing and calibration that shine with reflected sunlight, just as asteroid Psyche does.
The team also select objects that have a spectrum they’re familiar with, so they can compare previous data with data from newer targets.
Earlier in 2025, Psyche studied Jupiter and Mars for the purposes of instrument calibration, and mission scientists say this was a success.
They can compare data across multiple different tests to see whether Psyche's camera performance is changing.
“After this, we may look at Saturn or Vesta to help us continue to test the imagers," says Jim Bell, Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University in Tempe.
"We’re sort of collecting Solar System ‘trading cards’ from these different bodies and running them through our calibration pipeline to make sure we’re getting the right answers."
"We are up and running, and everything is working well," says Bob Mase, mission project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"We’re on target to fly by Mars in May 2026, and we are accomplishing all of our planned activities for cruise."
The Mars flyby will use the planet's gravitational pull to fire the spacecraft towards asteroid Psyche.
It will mark the first of two planned loops around the Solar System for Psyche, and the mission milestone of having clocked up 1.6 billion km (1 million miles) since its launch.
