NASA has released rare images which show the "dark" side of the moon against a backdrop of a sunlit planet Earth.
NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) captured the images last month, from the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite (DSCOVR).
The photographs and a corresponding GIF show the fully illuminated "dark side" of the moon, which is never visible from Earth due to a phenomenon called tidal locking, NASA said in a statement.
Far side of the moon seen by our ‘EPIC’ camera on @NOAASatellites’ #DSCOVR: http://t.co/DZQLWpFDuB #EarthRightNow pic.twitter.com/OQbjVacxkJ
— NASA (@NASA) August 5, 2015
The images captured on July 16 show the far side of the moon crossing in front of the Pacific Ocean near North America, with the North Pole in the upper left corner.
"It is surprising how much brighter Earth is than the moon," said Adam Szabo, DSCOVR project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "Our planet is a truly brilliant object in dark space compared to the lunar surface."
A unique view on July 16 of the Moon as it passed between the spacecraft and Earth and released it on Aug. 5, 2015. (NASA / NOAA)
Humans had never seen the far side of the moon before 1959, when the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft took the first photographs. Since then, there have been several NASA missions to photograph the moon's "dark side," but the U.S. space agency says there will soon be many more.
When EPIC begins regular observations in September, NASA says it will make new, colour images of the Earth available on a daily basis, 12 to 36 hours after they are taken.
But that won't necessarily mean a daily image from the dark side. The camera will only be able to capture the Earth and moon together about twice a year, NASA said.
