Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 May 27 in 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft looked toward the Sun to find this view of most distant planet Neptune and its moon Triton together in a crescent phase. The elegant image of ice-giant planet largest moon was taken from behind just after Voyager's closest approach . It could not have been taken from Earth because the most distant planet never shows a crescent phase to sunward eyes . Heading for the heliopause and beyond , the spacecraft's parting vantage point also robs Neptune of its familiar blue hue . Tomorrow's picture: an unexpected moon | Archive | Submissions | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS | Education | About APOD | Discuss Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff ( MTU ) & Jerry Bonnell ( UMCP )
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