The 1,000-year-old legend behind a Japanese orbiter’s stunning photos of the moon

Hundreds of luminous photos and flyover videos of the moon were recently released by Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and they are stunning. Taken by the Kaguya lunar orbiter between 2007 and 2008, they’re not the first high definition moon images, but they come with a beautiful backstory: the mythical origins of the orbiter’s name, Princess Kaguya.