For two years, from 2007 to 2009, Japan's SELENA spacecraft gathered scientific information about the moon and its origin. It was seen as the biggest mission to Earth's neighbour since NASA's Apollo mission.

Nicknamed Kaguya, after a moon princess from a Japanese folktale, the spacecraft carried five cameras on board: two HD cameras, one telephoto and one wide-angle.

Seven years later, in 2016, Japan's space agency JAXA has released videos and photos from that mission.

The video above is a compilation from a number of other videos released by the agency. Set to an ambient score, it gives the footage an ethereal quality.

The spacecraft was able to go as close to 50 kilometres to the surface of the moon. Apart from incredibly detailed images of the surface of the moon, the footage offers breathtaking sights at close quarters: the Earth rising over the moon, the Earth setting in the glare of the sun, and Venus and Earth rising together.