トピックスImage of the Earth and Moon taken by Hayabusa2's ONC-T camera on November 26, 2015

While approaching the Earth for the swing-by on December 3rd, Hayabusa2 snapped a photograph of the Earth and Moon using its Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T). The image was taken at 3:46 (UTC) on November 26th, 2015. The Earth is seen on the right and the Moon on the left.

The ONC-T used three filters out of seven to form the image, which will later be used for observing asteroid Ryugu (1999 JU3). Each filter captured the scene in R (red), G (green) and B (blue), which were then combined to form the psudo-colour image.

Hayabusa2 was about 3 million kilometres from the Earth when the picture was taken. We see the Earth above Australia on the right, while the Eurasian continent is covered by clouds on the left. In between the two, large clouds obscure the equator.

The ONC-T was developed by JAXA, The University of Tokyo, Chiba Institute of Technology, Rikkyo University, Meiji University, Nagoya University, The University of Aizu, and Kochi University.

  • The image of the Earth and Moon taken by Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on board of Hayabusa2 on November 26, 2015. (© JAXA)