Kaguya full Earth-rise and Earth-set videos

I was surprised and pleased by the number of people who wrote to me to help me out with the Kaguya videos. As many people explained to me, an .ASX file is just a shortcut (written in XML) to the actual files in Windows Media .WMV format. So all I needed to do is right click on the link to the .ASX file, save target as to download it as text, look in there to find the URLs to the files, and then plug those URLs into a piece of software that can record Windows Media streams. I received many suggestions on software, but the majority of people who wrote in pointed out that all I need to do is upgrade to Quicktime Pro. So it's not rocket science!

What I find interesting is that in less than 24 hours I received more emails telling me how to save these streams than I have received in the last several months from people who were interested in going through the (very simple) process required to request DVDs of high-definition Kaguya video directly from JAXA. Those DVDs still contain MUCH more video, at MUCH higher resolution than the videos I'm linking to below, so it is still worth it, if you have any claim to status as an "educator," to request the DVDs; send me an email and I'll send you the form you need to sign and send them. (For those of you who have requested the DVDs, I'd be curious to find out how long it took to receive them, and what they contained, and if any of you have tried a followup request to get more recent video.)

Without further ado, here are links to the high-resolution videos, in Windows Media format, about 15 MB apiece. Enjoy! And happy Mother's Day! (Insert clever remark about the appropriateness of viewing Mother Earth on Mother's Day here. I didn't have time to compose one, as I have to go decorate a Mother's Day cake for my mother-in-law during the remaining precious few minutes of my daughter's naptime that remains this afternoon.)

» Full Earth Rise from Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter
raquo; Full Earth Set from Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter