Solar Eclipse at The Moon: Planets Saturn, Mars & Mercury | NASA Artemis II

Solar Eclipse at The Moon: Planets Saturn, Mars & Mercury | NASA Artemis II

The Moon and light from at least five objects in our solar system appear in this solar eclipse view from NASA's Artemis II Mission: Saturn, Mars, and Mercury, along with reflected sunlight from Earth (Earthshine) and the glow of the Sun's corona and/or zodiacal light scattered by interplanetary dust.

What's that strangely diffused white light? 
Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset—or just before sunrise—and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being researched, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and that it slowly spirals into the Sun.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen continue preparing for their return to Earth set for Friday, April 10, 2026.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist onboard launched on the Artemis II mission, April 1, 2026, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Artemis II Mission is taking Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard their Orion spacecraft.

Track NASA’s Artemis II Mission in real time:

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis-ii/arow/

Check the Artemis blog for updates: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Image Date: April 7, 2026

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