Blue Moon Caught on Camera by ESA Satellite

The second full Moon of the month was captured on tape on Friday, August 31, by the third Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-3) satellite. The spacecraft was launched into Earth's orbit on July 5, and is currently undergoing testing and commissioning.

MSG-3 was able to capture this view of the blue Moon using its Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument, at around 11:20 GMT, as Earth's natural satellite was getting ready to disappear behind the southern hemisphere.

“The imager scans Earth’s surface and atmosphere every 15 minutes in 12 different wavelengths to track cloud development and measure temperatures. Brazil’s eastern coast along the South Atlantic Ocean is also visible, with clouds forming over the water,” ESA says in a press release.

The satellite is currently undergoing a six-month testing and commissioning phase, after the European Space Agency (ESA) handed over the control of the spacecraft to the European Organization for Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).