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A zoomed-in view of Earth as shown in a photo taken by the Danuri orbiter at 3:54 pm on Jan. 1 at 117 km above the moon’s surface. (courtesy of KARI)

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has released photos taken by Korea’s first lunar orbiter, Danuri, over the weekend.

The photos released Tuesday were taken with the lunar terrain imager (LUTI) that the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter is equipped with, taken at 119 and 117 kilometers above the moon’s surface on Saturday and Sunday.

The photos capture with crisp clarity craters on the moon and the image of our own pale blue dot.

A photo of Earth taken by the Danuri orbiter at 4:10 pm on Dec. 31 from 119 km above the moon’s surface. (courtesy of KARI)

Earlier Tuesday morning, KARI released photos taken on Christmas Eve at 344 kilometers above the moon’s surface and Dec. 28 at 124 kilometers above the moon’s surface, as well as a portion of footage taken on Dec. 17, after the probe maneuvered into orbit.

KARI is currently checking the performance of the Danuri payload and adjusting for errors, and plans to carry out full-fledged science and technology missions including filming of the lunar surface, polarization imaging, imaging of the dark side of the moon, and observation of magnetic fields and gamma rays, starting next month.

A photo of Earth taken by the Danuri orbiter on Dec. 28 at 124 kilometers above the moon’s surface. (courtesy of KARI)

A photo of Earth taken by the Danuri orbiter on Dec. 24 at 344 km above the moon’s surface. (courtesy of KARI)

By Lee Jeong-a, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]