This photo is perhaps the most stunning astronomical visual from the Artemis II lunar fly-by mission.
Here's the official caption:
Captured by the Artemis II crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, this image shows the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun. From the crew’s perspective, the Moon appears large enough to completely block the Sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and extending the view far beyond what is possible from Earth. We see a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk. The science community is investigating whether this effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light, or a combination of the two. Also visible are stars, typically too faint to see when imaging the Moon, but with the Moon in darkness stars are readily imaged. This unique vantage point provides both a striking visual and a valuable opportunity for astronauts to document their observations during humanity’s return to deep space. The faint glow of the nearside of the Moon is visible in this image, having been illuminated by light reflected off the Earth. Editor's note: This caption was updated on April 8, 2026, to reflect ongoing scientific observations and discussion about the image.
What the official caption omits is there are several planets photobombing the shot. If you look at the three brightest dots between the moon and the lower right hand corner of the image, from leftmost to rightmost, those are Saturn, Mars, and Mercury.
But that's not all. Neptune is hiding in between Saturn and Mars, too faint to be very visible at the image's resolution. If the image were slightly zoomed out, Venus would have been visible in the upper left corner, but falls out of the frame in this shot.
