Chinese Satellite Reveals Image of Moon’s Far Side and Earth Together

The moon is locked in orbit to Earth, meaning that the same side of the moon is always facing us.

A Chinese lunar orbiter has taken a stunning image that shows the giant rear side of the moon with a tiny planet Earth nearby, the media reported.

The Dwingeloo Radio Observatory in the Netherlands reports that the photo was captured by China's Longjiang-2 satellite on February 3rd, 2019.

The photo was taken with a camera linked to an amateur radio transceiver on board the Chinese DSLWP-B/Longjiang-2 satellite. It's now in orbit around the Moon and it entered the orbit back in Jube 2018.

The Longjiang-2 satellite entered the Moon's orbit in June 2018 and was launched along with China's Queqiao communications probe, which has been critical for the country's recent Chang'e-4 lunar lander.

Earlier in January, Chang'e-4 lunar probe became the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the far side of the moon. As for the photo of the Earth and the "dark side of the Moon", it was transmitted back to Earth and received with the Dwingeloo Telescope.

As space agencies like NASA gear up and renewed interest in Moon exploration grows, we might learn a few more secrets about our nearest neighbor, and will hopefully get some more lovely images like this one.