On this day in 1977 the Voyager I space probe took the first photograph of the Earth and the Moon together, an image that would give us a new interplanetary perspective about our position in the universe.
To mark this anniversary we've decided to look to the sky and offer tips and tricks for photographing the moon. As you will see from the sample images in this gallery, you can capture amazing lunar images with an ordinary camera.
Read the tips in the photo gallery below, and then link us in the comments to any moon pics you've snapped (we'll suspend our "no HTML" rule just this once). If you're feeling generous, share your "how to shoot the moon" secrets with the Mashable readership.
The moon is different every single night. You can refer to a lunar calendar to find out what phase the moon is in, as well as when moonrise can be expected. The weather, of course, is a different matter.
As you might imagine, a clear night sky is desirable. "You should take photos of the moon on a clear night, with no clouds in the sky. Even thin cloud layers can make it difficult to get good photos," says Flickr photographer colorpix.
And folk in densely populated areas have other issues to worry about -- pollution.
"In and around cities there can be pollution in the air and this makes a difference. So ideally take the photos 'out of town' on a location with no light or air pollution," advises Colorpix.
"I went for the morning shot for a couple of reasons. I wanted to see if any light changed as the moon reflects the sun towards pre-dawn versus post-dusk. I think the bigger factor is the light noise was less as it was so early in the morning. During an earlier evening shot, there was more light noise from vehicles, houses, and other building lights."
"The other reason was the air was brisk and the sky looked so clear that I felt the image would have to be clearer. Sometimes you get that 'haze' in the air that just seems to be a carry over from the daytime hours that the night seems to clear up."
"Basically, I just wanted to see if the different hour changed the final result. I took 11 pictures the evening before and just two the following morning. From my camera preview in the morning, I felt they were indeed clearer."
Stability is everything when you're shooting the moon in order to keep detail as sharp as possible, especially if you're using a long lens.
1. Use a tripod with a solid head.
2. Use a remote/shutter release cable.
3. If you don't have a shutter release cable, then use your camera's self-timer.
4. If your DSLR allows, use mirror lock-up. Even the slightest vibration can add blur.
When it comes to a lens, the bigger the better. Accepted wisdom suggests a minimum lens length of 200mm, but ideally you're talking closer to 500mm.
You can also use a lens extender or teleconverter to increase the focal length of a lens. This image above was captured with a 400mm lens fitted with a 1.4x extender.
If you're shooting with a fixed lens camera, then zoom in as much as your optical zoom will allow -- don't be tempted to use digital zoom, this won't do you any favors with image quality.
As with all photography, capturing a great shot of the moon comes down to trial and error.
If you tend to shoot in "auto" mode and you've no idea where to start, then these settings instructions will give you a good baseline to further experiment from.
1. Zoom in as far as you can.
2. Set your camera to manual focus and focus to infinity (this looks like a squashed number eight).
3. Set your camera to its lowest ISO rating, likely 100 or 200, depending on the model. This will ensure you don't get plagued by noise.
4. Set the f-stop (aperture) to 11.
5. Start at a shutter speed of 1/250 and then bracket (change the shutter speed or aperture -- not at the same time) depending on the results to find the best settings for your situation.
It's worth remembering two things -- the moon is actually very bright, and it moves across the sky, as Colorpix tells us.
"When shooting the moon, you are taking a photo of a very bright object so don't underestimate the brightness. My first photos of the moon showed only a big white blob. The exact brightness is variable depending on a number of factors, including atmospheric conditions and the angle of the moon over the horizon."
"You might need to experiment with the camera settings. You need of course to adjust the camera manually to get this right. I tend to use a more narrow aperture, for example around f/11 as a wider aperture can soften the image. A more narrow aperture than this, for example f/16, requires a slower shutter speed. This can create blurred photos, as the moon is moving at a good speed across the sky."
If you're not thrilled with your results, then don't despair, you might be able to improve them with post-processing.
Just playing around with the photo's curves in a photo editing program may bring out unseen detail, highlights and shadows as you adjust the curves.
If you're a whiz with photo editing, then combining several shots -- as Luis Argerich has done with this image -- can create an impressive composite photo.
If you only have a compact camera, then don't think you can't have a go at photographing the moon.
This image was captured the 8-megapixel Canon PowerShot S5 which boasts a 12x optical zoom (roughly speaking in 35mm terms the equivalent to a 420mm lens).
"I stepped onto my patio with my S5 point-and-shoot camera set to spot meter, aimed at the moon, kept my arms at my sides to steady myself and the camera, held my breath and pressed the shutter."
Finally, if you just don't have any kind of photography kit, then make up for lack of lens size with some creativity.
As images from Andrea D'Amico's sweet "playing with the moon" series demonstrates, you can still capture interesting moon-themed photos with nothing more than a cameraphone.
These pics were shot with an iPhone, showing that a little bit of imagination can go a long way.