As skygazers in North America were enjoying the spectacle of a total lunar eclipse late Thursday night, a lunar lander captured the same eclipse — including a "diamond ring effect" — from a totally different point of view.
And the results were spectacular.
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander, which successfully descended to the moon's surface on March 2, became only the second spacecraft to capture an eclipse from another celestial body. The first occurred in 1967 when NASA’s Surveyor 3 was on the moon gathering data in preparation for the Apollo missions.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align perfectly in space with Earth in the middle, leading it to cast a shadow on the moon. The moon is still visible as it takes on an eerie reddish hue.
But when viewed from the moon, the Earth effectively blots out the sun in a total solar eclipse. All that can be seen is a glowing halo that looks like a ring. The blast of bright light that finally peaks out from behind the Earth after the period called "totality" looks very much like a scintillating diamond.
"Blue Ghost got her first diamond ring!" Firefly Aerospace wrote on its website. "This marks the first time in history a commercial company was actively operating on the Moon and able to observe a total solar eclipse where the Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow on the lunar surface. This phenomenon occurred simultaneously as the lunar eclipse we witnessed on Earth. We hope to have more shots to share soon!"
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander is currently perched in Mare Crisium, or "Sea of Crises," a 300-mile-wide impact basin on the northeastern region of the moon's near side.
The aerospace company is a private enterprise, but is cooperating with NASA on its current mission. Among its payload is a suite of NASA science and tech instruments.
Credits: Eclipse image and Blue Ghost illustration courtesy of Firefly Aerospace.