NASA's Psyche asteroid probe beams home haunting view of distant Earth (photo)

photo from deep space showing earth and the moon as two bright but small and distant dots

NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe captured images of Earth and our moon from about 180 million miles (290 kilometers) away in July 2025, as it calibrated its imager instrument. When choosing targets for the imager testing, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, which is headed toward a big and bizarre metal asteroid, has delivered a stunning perspective of our home planet from deep space.

Psyche launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2023 with the objective of visiting the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, which is believed to be the exposed core of a demolished planetesimal, or tiny planet.

This past July, as part of periodic testing and calibration of Psyche's science instruments during its cruise phase, the probe's team had it look back at Earth, which was then around 180 million miles (290 kilometers) away.

The result of long-exposure shots taken on July 20 and July 23 is a thought-provoking image of Earth and the moon amid a stellar backdrop, providing a rare perspective of the Earth's place in space. The brightness of Earth and moon comes from reflected sunlight, set among stars belonging to the constellation Aries.

The image demonstrates the performance of the spacecraft's twin cameras. Its multispectral imager is designed to detect different wavelengths of light, as the spectral signatures from light that reflects off 16 Psyche can be used to learn about the asteroid's composition. For last month's imaging test, Earth and the moon, shining with reflected sunlight, provided a useful target, but the team may choose more distant objects in the future.