Japan's SELENE Captures Earth Rise at the Lunar North Pole

Our Planet as we've never seen it: the Earth rises above a region of the moon’s surface near its North Pole in this images taken from high-definition video shot from Japan’s lunar orbiter KAGUYA(SELENE) at 2:52 pm on November 7, 2007 (Japan Standard Time). SELENE is the first lunar explorer to take high-definition Earth images.

In the Earth-set image top, Earth appears upside-down; visible are Australia and Asia. A region near the moon's south pole is seen in the foreground.

The footage was taken Nov. 7 using equipment provided by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).

The orbiter mission is run by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Its first high-definition videos of Earth were sent back last month. The mission objectives are to obtain scientific data on the origin and evolution of the moon and to develop the technology for future lunar exploration.

Posted by Casey Kazan.

Links:

www.jaxa.jp

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071113-selene-images.html

http://www.miaobaby.com/science/japans-moon-probe-updates-earthrise/