A NASA camera has captured a never before seen images of the dark side of the Moon as it passes in front of the Earth.
The photos were taken by a four-megapixel camera aboard NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite, which was orbiting one million miles from Earth.
The pictures, which were taken on 16 July, but only just released, show the side of the Moon that is never visible from Earth fully illuminated.
Named EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera), the device keeps a constant view of the Earth, recording things such as ozone, vegetation and cloud height in the atmosphere.
EPIC is due to begin regular observations next month, providing pictures that will help scientists study variations across the globe. It will also capture the moon and Earth together twice a year. It will also post daily colour photos of Earth to a dedicated public website, available 12 to 36 hours after they are received.
The far side of the moon was first seen in 1959 by a Soviet spacecraft, which sent back images to Earth and in May 2008, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft saw a similar view from 31 million miles away.
Adam Szabo, DSCOVR project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said: “It is surprising how much brighter Earth is than the Moon.
"Our planet is a truly brilliant object in dark space compared to the lunar surface."
Source : SkyNews
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