The barren moon above the Earth’s limb

ISS002-E-9767 (8 Aug. 2001) --- This image, recorded with a digital still camera by one of the Expedition Two crew members onboard the International Space Station, is a glimpse of the barren moon through the Earth's limb. With no atmosphere, and therefore no limb of its own, the edge of the moon arcs crisply against the backdrop of space. Some of the most breathtaking views of Earth taken from space are those that capture our planet's limb. When viewed from the side, the Earth looks like a flat circle, and the atmosphere appears like a halo around it. This glowing halo is known as the limb. Viewed from satellites, space shuttles, and even the moon, the image of this luminous envelope of gases shielding the life on our planet from the dark, cold space beyond rarely fails to fascinate us.