The Juno spacecraft made a very close approach to Earth on 9th October 2013 at 19:21 UT, passing just 560 km above the sea near South Africa, before swinging around and heading out for Jupiter.
The images here were captured between 20:23:33 UT and 20:24:47 UT with Juno at an altitude of just 14 degrees, soon after it rose above the horizon, just over an hour after the close approach. Exposures were limited to 1 second to freeze the motion and allow positions to be measured.
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sxwbvPGbsUDR-n05GBDWpPHuZV6TWf2HTOpIkX4H6L8KX0iMeB2x14dLEVhxmUrEBOGyMV0lMzQuJdNKFHQj727v8dGPQOGAUC8LtVNyZaie9-iJ7m9HqUpLAUviHjEmYBzjvNUXNWqNaL=s0-d) |
Juno spacecraft 1 hour after close approach, moving at 800"/minute and at a distance of 42,500km from the observatory. |
Here a 20 second exposure shows Juno streaking in front of the distant stars, already much slower moving and more distant than the image above.
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vRSQhPoE6pkygVYSpHDqS8mHd5P1ZivPmQVWQNiI76hEhAguaMKOorGk7D0Jm2cshZwawgzcGWP7VJ75yooT0_Yx_Vr928IDAQbcS9O_zfUENRmck7VHIz_ZB7KnP2ZSpzRqL6QceZYz_HgAjsomTg=s0-d) |
Juno spacecraft, 20 second exposure starting at 20:55:10 UT, moving at 370"/minute and at a range of 62,800km |
Wow, Peter. So fantastic you were able to capture this series of images. Cheers to you! Here's to a great voyage for Juno!
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