Moments before a new day 🌙⁣ ⁣ The waxing crescent Moon is pictured from the International Space Station (@ISS) as it orbited 267 miles (429 km) above the Atlantic Ocean southwest of South Africa during an orbital sunrise on Sept. 30, 2022.⁣ ⁣ While the Moon is breathtaking – the atmosphere steals the show. This edge-on view of Earth gives us a look into the layers of our colorful atmosphere. The troposphere (orange) is at the bottom, above the dark limb of Earth's surface. This is the layer we call home, housing the air that we breathe and the clouds in the sky.⁣ ⁣ Above it lies the into white stratosphere; this layer is 22 miles (35 km) thick. It contains the ozone layer that protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV) rays.⁣ ⁣ The light blue of the mesosphere and beyond gradually fades to the darkness of space. The mesosphere is where meteors burn up during meteor showers, due to the number of gasses present that cause friction and create heat.⁣ ⁣ Image Description:⁣ The blackness of space takes up three-quarters of the top half of the image with the crescent Moon captured in the center of the image. Subtle details of the lunar craters can be seen, in the sliver that is lit by the sun. Below the Moon, the blackness fades into the atmosphere of Earth: a deep blue, then into white, then into orange, and back to black on Earth’s surface.⁣ ⁣ Credit: NASA⁣ ⁣ #NASA #NASAEarth #Moon #Atmosphere #Space #InternationalSpaceStation #ISS #Night #Sunrise