The Earth and the Moon, 1992.

During its flight, the Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Earth and the Moon. Separate images were combined to produce this image. The Galileo spacecraft took the images in 1992 on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-1997. The image shows a partial view of the Earth centered on the Pacific Ocean about latitude 20 degrees south. The west coast of South America can be observed as well as the Caribbean. The swirling white cloud patterns indicate storms in the south east Pacific. The distinct bright ray crater at the bottom of the Moon is the Tycho impact basin. The lunar dark areas are lava rock filled impact basins.