A Chinese satellite currently in lunar orbit snapped this
incredible image of the far side of the Moon, with a tiny Earth hanging
out in the background. Captured on February 3rd, the picture offers a
rare perspective of the Earth and Moon system together.
The image was taken by China’s Longjiang-2 satellite,
which entered the Moon’s orbit in June 2018. This tiny probe was
launched into space along with China’s Queqiao satellite, a
communications probe that’s been critical for the country’s recent Chang’e-4 lunar lander. At the beginning of the year, Chang’e-4 successfully touched down on the far side of the Moon — the side that’s always facing away from Earth.
Queqiao is located in a stable position near the Moon, where it relays
radio signals from Longjiang-2 and the Chang’e-4 lander to Earth.
Longjiang-2 actually had a companion satellite, Longjiang-1, and both were tasked with orbiting and observing the Moon. But China ultimately lost contact with Longjiang-1 en route. Luckily, Longjiang-2 was a success, and it took some stunning pictures last fall.
During the Chang’e-4 landing, the satellite was silent so
that it wouldn’t interfere with communications between the Earth and
the lander. But Longjiang-2 is active again. The probe started taking a
time-lapse of the Earth-Moon system on February 3rd, and the first photo
of that sequence was downloaded by the Dwingeloo Radio Observatory in the Netherlands yesterday.
This is the first time that Longjiang-2 has captured the
entire Moon and Earth in one shot. Now that it’s taking pics again,
hopefully there are even more stunning images to come.
Loren Grush
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