See What Earth Looks Like From the Moon’s South Pole

Overview

The animation of a computer model shows us a time-lapse of the Earth from the unique perspective of the Lunar South Pole. In just two minutes of video, the time of three lunar months—or days—is summarized. This unusual optic allows you to see the Earth and the Sun, as well as an eclipse between them.

The science and other stuff to know

The images that make up the time-lapse were made by Ernie Wright, who also narrates the video. He and colleagues at NASA’s Science Visualization Studio and Goddard Space Flight Center developed a dynamic model that shows what Earth looks like from the southernmost point of our natural satellite.

From this perspective, our Sun never rises or falls below the horizon by more than 1.5 degrees, and the Earth remains more or less in the same strip of sky. It is seen to rotate east-west, as we are looking at it “from below.” The same thing happens with the rotation of the sky from the point of view of a person who is in the southern hemisphere of the Earth with respect to one who is in the northern hemisphere.

Once per lunar month (which consists of 28 Earth days), the Earth comes between the Moon and the Sun, creating a solar eclipse. From the perspective of our planet, it would be a lunar eclipse.

Dive deeper

If you’re interested in learning more about space and all the fascinating things in it, check out these resources:

• See Moon landing footage as never before, thanks to AI
• Watch 1 billion years of Earth’s movement in 40 seconds
• New research shows Mars likely harbored microbial life