A spacecraft observed a lunar eclipse from Mercury

A spacecraft observed a lunar eclipse from Mercury

Last Wednesday, the inhabitants of the earth were struck by a wonderful cosmic phenomenon - a lunar eclipse. In the cloudless regions of the globe, astronomers observed how our moon gradually became covered with the earth's shadow and, eventually, transforms from a bright disk into an ominous red ball. This phenomenon, known as the “Blood Moon”, was observed not only by the inhabitants of the Earth, but also by a small space robot, 6,600,000 miles away from us.

The mission of NASA MESSENGER, which is currently in orbit of one small planet of our solar system, was closely watching the Earth on October 6. As seen in the video below, the natural satellite of our planet rotates behind the Earth, falling in its shadow: "When viewed from Mercury, the Earth and the Moon look like two bright stars," says astronomer Hari Nair, from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Washington. "During a lunar eclipse, the moon disappears from view when it passes through the shadow of the earth."

This video was assembled from 31 images taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft, while observing the Earth-Moon system from 5:18 to 6:18 in the morning on October 8. For greater clarity, scientists have increased the brightness of the Earth and the Moon.

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