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Birthday · November 20, 2007

Earthrise from Moon-Orbiting Kaguya

November 20, 2007

Consider this: the iron in your blood was forged in a supernova explosion billions of years ago.

Earthrise from Moon-Orbiting Kaguya

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APOD published November 20, 2007. Credit: SELENE Team, JAXA, NHK. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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Earthrise from Moon-Orbiting Kaguya

Original APOD · November 20, 2007

What does the Earth look like from the Moon? A new version of this space age perspective was captured by the robotic Kaguya spacecraft currently in orbit around Earth's Moon. Launched two months ago by Japan, the scientific mission of the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE), nicknamed Kaguya, is to study the origin and evolution of the Moon. Last month Kaguya reached lunar orbit and starting transmitting data and images. This frame is from Kaguya's onboard HDTV camera. An astronaut standing on the lunar surface would never actually see the Earth rise, since the Moon always keeps the same side toward the Earth. This Earthrise as well as the famous Earthrise captured 40 years ago by the crew of Apollo 8, only occurs for observers in lunar orbit.

Image credit: SELENE Team, JAXA, NHK

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