Chinese satellite captures stunning backside image of the Moon with Earth

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.