Observation by Nick James: Chang'e 5 spacecraft near the Moon
Uploaded by
Nick James
Observer
Nick James
Observed
2020 Nov 26 - 21:05
Uploaded
2020 Nov 26 - 22:17
Objects
The Moon
Spacecraft
Exposure
37x60s
Location
Chelmsford, UK
Target name
Chang'e 5 (2020-087A)
Title
Chang'e 5 spacecraft near the Moon
About this image
This very grotty image was taken in a bright sky caused by a combination of fog and the proximity of the Moon. It shows the track of the Chinese Chang'e 5 spacecraft (2020-087A) as it approaches its Moon landing. At the time this was taken the spacecraft was around 350,000 km away but it was glinting as bright as 8th-9th magnitude (uncertain since it saturated my camera). You can see a timelapse of this here. The Moon landing should occur in the next couple of days.
The booster (2020-087B) is not in this field but it is also visible at the moment. It's trajectory will return it to Earth for a re-entry on November 30.
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