A new series of images revealed by NASA show the dark side of the moon as it crosses the face of Earth from space.
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The images were captured by a NASA camera on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). The satellite is orbiting about 1.6 million km from Earth.
A sight like this doesn’t happen often. DSCOVR is orbiting at Lagrange Point 1, a point where the pull of Earth is equal and opposite that of the sun. This allows the satellite to orbit from an ellipse to a circle. As a result of this orbit and the phases of the moon, it only happens about twice a year. The last time the satellite had this view was on July 16, 2015.
DSCOVR took the images about 30 seconds apart on July 4 between 11:50 p.m. ET and July 5 at 3:18 a.m. ET. The moon is seen passing over the Indian and Pacific oceans.
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