The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 12, 2026, features a composite image of Jupiter and five moons. The photograph captures Earth's Moon positioned in front of Jupiter, alongside four Galilean satellites: Ganymede, Io, Callisto, and Europa.
The image was created using a series of exposures taken in Westchester, New York. The composition shows the sunlit crescent of Earth's Moon and its night side illuminated by Earthshine, with the four Jovian moons aligned vertically above it.
NASA notes that Callisto, Ganymede, and Io are larger than Earth's Moon, while Europa is slightly smaller. Additionally, the robotic spacecraft Juno is currently orbiting Jupiter and has conducted close flybys of three of these moons.
