Earthrise

Earthrise is a famous photograph of our planet, Earth, taken from the moon by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968. This picture was captured during the Apollo 8 mission, when the spacecraft orbited the moon and gave the crew a view of Earth rising over the lunar horizon.

This image is very important because it was one of the first times people saw Earth from far away in space. It helped many people understand how special our planet is and inspired ideas about taking care of our world. Nature photographer Galen Rowell said it might be the most important environmental photograph ever taken. The picture shows Earth as a beautiful, fragile blue marble in the dark blackness of space.

Details

Earthrise was taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission, the first time people traveled around the Moon. For many years, people thought the mission commander, Frank Borman, took the picture. But actually, Anders took all the photos.

The photograph was taken from lunar orbit on December 24, 1968. Anders used a special camera called a Hasselblad with color film. When he saw the Earth appearing, he exclaimed, "Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! There's the Earth coming up. Wow, that's pretty." His crewmates agreed, and they took several photos.

After the mission, NASA workers quickly drove to Corpus Christi, Texas to develop the film. There, a photographer named Raul Rodriguez developed the slides and printed the pictures, including the famous Earthrise image. The photograph shows the Earth rising over the Moon's surface, and it has become one of the most famous pictures ever taken.

Legacy

The photograph called Earthrise was the first picture of Earth taken by a person, not a robot. Before this, robots had taken black-and-white pictures of Earth from the Moon. A famous nature photographer said Earthrise was very important for helping people care about the environment. Thirty years after the photo was taken, two craters on the Moon were named after the people who took the picture.

In 2026, an asteroid was named after the Earthrise photograph to mark its 30th anniversary. A famous singer mentioned the photo in one of her songs. The U.S. Postal Service made a stamp in 1969 showing the Earthrise photo. In 2013, NASA made a video showing what the astronauts saw when they took the photo, using special computer programs.

The Earthrise photo also inspired the design of a patch for the Artemis II mission in 2026. On April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II mission, a new photo called Earthset was taken, similar to Earthrise.

Potential earthrises as seen from the Moon's surface

Main article: Extraterrestrial sky § The Moon

When the Apollo 8 spacecraft flew over the Moon, it saw Earth rising in the sky. If someone stood on the Moon's surface, they might also see Earth rising, though it would look very different from how the Moon rises on Earth. The Moon always shows the same face toward Earth, so you might think Earth would stay in one place in the Moon's sky. However, the Moon wobbles a little, called libration. This wobble makes Earth move in a special pattern in the sky. Because of this, people on about 20% of the Moon's surface could see Earth rising slowly over a period of about two days. During a month, watchers on the Moon would also see Earth go through phases, similar to the phases of the Moon we see from Earth.