 "Stunning image of Moon's far side and Earth captured by Chinese satellite")
A Chinese satellite that is currently orbiting the Moon happened to catch an incredible sight of the moon’s far side, with Earth looking tiny, yet stunning in the distance. The image, taken on 3 February, is a rare shot of the Earth and the Moon sharing a frame.
This photo of Earth and the Lunar farside, maybe our best ever, was taken yesterday by the Chinese Lunar satellite DSLWP-B (Longjiang-2). The Dwingeloo telescope downloaded the photo from the satellite this morning. More info at https://t.co/sKt7w9mol9 pic.twitter.com/IsnyvqekTz
— Dwingeloo Telescoop (@radiotelescoop) February 4, 2019
The photographer is the Longjiang-2 satellite from China, which made its way into lunar orbit in June 2018. Longjiang-2 shared a ride to space with the Queqiao satellite, which is helping Chang’e-4 lunar probe with a historic mission on the Moon’s far side, which is always turned away from Earth. [caption id=“attachment_6036771” align=“alignnone” width=“934”] A photograph of the Moon’s far side and Earth in the distance as seen by the Liangjing-2 satellite. Image credit: CNSA[/caption] The Queqiao satellite is orbiting in a fixed position around the Moon, relaying signals from both the Longjiang-2 and Chang’e-4 to Earth. Longjiang-2 was one of a pair of satellites that were sent to the Moon to observe and study it. China lost track of Longjiang-1 on its way to the Moon, but Longjiang-2 made it there just fine. This is the second postcard-worthy image that Longjiang-2 has relayed back.
The satellite was silent during the Chang’e-4 probe’s landing so it wouldn’t interfere with the critical communications between Earth and the lander. Now that it is back online, weeks into Chang’e'4’s successful landing, Longjiang-2 is capturing a timelapse of the Earth and moon system. The stunning image captured of the moon’s far side and Earth in the distance is a still from the timelapse. Hopefully, there are plenty more to come now that Longjiang-2 is back in action.
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