                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                               2025 August 23

                            Fishing for the Moon
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Bellelli

   Explanation: How big is planet Earth's Moon? Compared to other moons of
   the Solar System, it's number 5 on the largest to smallest ranked list,
   following Jupiter's moon Ganymede, Saturn's moon Titan, and Jovian
   moons Callisto and Io. Continuing the list, the Moon comes before
   Jupiter's Europa and Neptune's Triton. It's also larger than dwarf
   planets Pluto and Eris. With a diameter of 3,475 kilometers the Moon is
   about 1/4 the size of Earth though, and that does make it the largest
   moon when compared to the size of its parent Solar System planet. Of
   course in this serene, twilight sea and skyscape, August's rising Full
   Moon still appears small enough to be caught in the nets of an ancient
   fishing rig. The telephoto snapshot was taken along the Italian Costa
   dei Trabocchi, on the Adriatic Sea.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

