Hayabusa, which is
coming closer to the earth for a swing-by, successfully
acquired images of the earth and the moon on the 16th
and the 17th.
Earth image taken by
Hayabusa
This earth image was acquired at 3:30 a.m. on May 17
(Japan Standard Time, JST). The distance between Hayabusa
and the earth at that time was about 910,000 km. The image
shows the south part of the North American Continent (Texas
area) in the center, and you can also see the whole continent,
the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in blue, and
clouds over them.
The image was taken by the onboard Asteroid Multiband
Imaging Camera (AMICA). It was composed of three individually
filtered images. © 2004
JAXA
Moon image by Hayabusa
(1)
This moon image was
acquired at 8:30 p.m. on May 16 (JST). The distance between
the moon and Hayabusa at that time was about 710,000 km.
The equator is in the center of the image, and the left
is the north, and the right is the south. It is mostly
the far side of the moon. A black spot on the upper right
on the moon is a huge crater on the far side of the moon
called “Mare Orientale (or Eastern Sea)”.
The upper part of this moon image shows a part of the
Oceanus Procellarum (the ocean of Storms) on the front
side of the moon. The blackish part on the lower right
seems to be Apollo crater (a part of the South Pole –
Aitken basin).
This image was taken
by onboard AMICA, and was composed of three individually
filtered images. © 2004 JAXA
Moon image by Hayabusa
(2)
This moon image was
acquired at 8:00 p.m. on May 17 (JST), about a day after
the above image (1) had been taken. The distance between
Hayabusa and the moon at that time was about 340,000 km.
The area covered by this photo is about the same as the
above (1), but as the distance became closer, the image
was zoomed and clear. The black spot on the lower left
seems to be the Mare Moscoviense (Moscow Sea).
This image was taken
by onboard AMICA, and was composed of three individually
filtered images. © 2004 JAXA
