The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have succeeded in capturing the world's first high-definition video of the moon taken from lunar orbit. The 8x time-lapse video was shot using an HDTV camera aboard the KAGUYA lunar explorer, a.k.a. SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer), while in orbit 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the lunar surface.
JAXA has posted an online version of the video, which is divided into two parts. The first part was shot on west side of the Ocean of Storms as the explorer moved from south to north, and the second part was shot from a location north of the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) as the explorer moved toward the north pole. The footage was taken on October 31.
Here are a few stills from the video...
This still was taken from the first part of the video, which was shot on the west side of the Ocean of Storms as KAGUYA moved from south to north. The dark area on the right side of the screen is the "ocean," and the bright area on the left is called the "highland."
This still, which also shows the west side of the Ocean of Storms, was taken from the end of the first part of the video. The Repsold crater, which measures 107 kilometers (66 miles) across, is visible in the center of the image, near the bottom.
This still, taken from the second part of video, shows an area north of the Ocean of Storms, near the north pole. At this high latitude, the low-angle sunlight casts long shadows in the craters.
The online video does not include the much-anticipated shot of the earth rising over the lunar horizon, but perhaps NHK is saving it for when they broadcast the footage in its full, high-definition glory.
[Source: JAXA press release]