South Korea's lunar orbiter unveils jaw-dropping images of Earth and the moon

A satellite image of the Earth seen from the moon, taken by South Korea's Danuri spacecraft (Image credit: KARI)

After orbiting the moon for just over a month, the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) is now sending back breathtaking images of Earth's rocky neighbor — and our planet too.

The images, which were posted to the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) website, show a variety of lunar landscapes, including two jaw-dropping black-and-white images of an enormous Earth rising over the moon's crater-studded horizon, and a time-lapse image of the moon's orbit around Earth taken over several hours.

In mid-December, the spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit and began measuring the lunar surface in order to identify potential landing sites for future moon missions. Danuri's findings may help NASA plan the next stages of the agency's ongoing Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a permanent base there by 2025.

A time lapse of 15 images showing the moon orbiting around the Earth — (Image credit: KARI)

On its way to the moon, Danuri photographed the moon's procession around Earth once a day for an entire month, beginning on Sept. 15. On Sept. 25, the orbiter took 15 pictures over the course of about 3 hours, resulting in the composite image above.

The Earth rising over the moon's horizon — (Image credit: KARI)

Two days after arriving in lunar orbit, Danuri snapped this image of the enormous Earth rising above the moon's horizon. Later in its mission, Danuri will study the dark interiors of craters like those seen in the foreground, to see if there's any evidence of water ice there.

The Earth and moon positioned on opposite sides of the sky — (Image credit: KARI)

The moon and Earth appear on opposite sides of the sky in this image, taken during Danuri's four-month voyage from Florida to lunar orbit.

Earth, as seen from the Danuri spacecraft on its way to the moon — (Image credit: KARI)

Earth, as seen by Danuri as it neared its lunar orbit in November 2022.

Brandon is the space / physics editor at Live Science. With more than 20 years of editorial experience, his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Reader's Digest, CBS.com, the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and other outlets. He holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona, with minors in journalism and media arts. His interests include black holes, asteroids and comets, and the search for extraterrestrial life.