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Updated: Oct 18, 2019 03:50 IST

One of the spectrometers (an instrument that measures wavelengths to tell the properties of an object) on-board the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter has captured its first illuminated image.

The image, released by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), captures part of far side (the part of the moon facing away from the Earth) in the northern hemisphere of the moon.

The image shows that the Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS) is able to measure the variations in the reflected solar radiation and identify various features like crater central peaks, crater floors, the inner-rims of the craters, and very fresh reworked ejecta associated with small craterlets within the crater floor of a large crater.

The payload measures the reflected sunlight and emitted part of Moon light from the lunar surface in narrow spectral channels (bands) ranging from nearly 800 – 5000 nanometer.

“This is a very routine thing. The image released just goes on to show that the sensor is working as it should. It is a very good resolution image, however, just a single image does not tell much. With the help of several such images, the IIRS will be able to tell the mineral and volatiles (elements and compounds with low boiling point found on the crust or atmosphere of celestial objects),” said Ajay Lele, Senior Fellow working with space security and strategic technologies at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

“Over a period of time, this will help us in understanding the origins and the impact of the space weather on the lunar surface,” he said.

The orbiter is expected to function for 7 years in a nearly 100 x 100 km orbit.

The image shows the Sommerfield crater, fresh ejecta, the sunlit inner rim of the Kirkwood crater nearby, the central peak of the Stebbins crater and its floor