Epic view of the dark side of the Moon transiting the Earth as seen from a million miles away

A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month.

According to NASA the series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth.


We all need a little cosmic perspective from time to time, and this is as good as it gets. NASA has released this truly stunning GIF of the Moon passing in front of the Earth.

The image sequence offers an unprecedented look at the relationship between the two planetary objects, and also gives a detailed look at the rarely seen far side of the Moon.

The resulting GIF is so amazing that it's almost unbelievable, but the images are completely real.

The whole sequence was taken by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (or "EPIC," a wonderfully appropriate acronym) on the DSCOVR satellite that was launched in February.

If you're wondering why it looks so different from the famous "Earthrise" photo, that's because DSCOVR is located one million miles from Earth. The far side of the Moon, where Earthrise was taken from, is roughly 240,000 miles away.

Note: To me it seems surreal it is as if the images have been edited.