EPIC indeed
April 24, 2024 1:32 PM Subscribe
Cool--thanks for posting!
Here's more on the DSCOVR/EPIC mission, with some nice animations of its orbit at L1. Since it's fairly far away, the images are a pretty good representation of the relative size and brightness of the Earth and Moon.
posted by indexy at 1:40 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Here's more on the DSCOVR/EPIC mission, with some nice animations of its orbit at L1. Since it's fairly far away, the images are a pretty good representation of the relative size and brightness of the Earth and Moon.
posted by indexy at 1:40 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Awesome photos, not least for showing the darkness of the moon's surface. It's as directly lit as the Earth in the background but is actually the color of a parking lot. On preview, yes, indexy!
posted by drdanger at 1:42 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
posted by drdanger at 1:42 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
I don’t remember ever seeing a picture like that. Wonderful. Though the moon looks really close to the earth. Telephoto lens?
posted by njohnson23 at 1:42 PM on April 24
posted by njohnson23 at 1:42 PM on April 24
DSCOVR is about a million miles from earth; the moon is about 240,000 miles from earth.
posted by dmd at 1:46 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
posted by dmd at 1:46 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
From the Earth we only get to see the full frontal view.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:55 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:55 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
But where's the alien base?
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:56 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:56 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
B-but I was told there is no Dark Side of the Moon, really!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:56 PM on April 24 [5 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:56 PM on April 24 [5 favorites]
Ironically, the moon turns out not to have a place the sun don’t shine.
posted by nickmark at 1:57 PM on April 24 [6 favorites]
posted by nickmark at 1:57 PM on April 24 [6 favorites]
Down in front!
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:06 PM on April 24 [4 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:06 PM on April 24 [4 favorites]
just whooping "Oh yeah!! Tsiolkovskyyyyyyy!" as my favourite crater comes into view
(one of the very few areas of dark lava on the far side! And that perfect little central mountain! Most beautiful of craters, how can you not love it)
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:15 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
(one of the very few areas of dark lava on the far side! And that perfect little central mountain! Most beautiful of craters, how can you not love it)
#/media/File:Tsiolkovskiy_crater_Apollo_17_mosaic.jpg){kind=link}
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:15 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
But where's the alien base?
I'm assuming it's the dark circular-looking patch you can see in the upper left of the images of the moon.
posted by nickmark at 2:18 PM on April 24
I'm assuming it's the dark circular-looking patch you can see in the upper left of the images of the moon.
posted by nickmark at 2:18 PM on April 24
Surprisingly, there ARE places on the moon where the sun don't shine.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:23 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:23 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
Wondermark also had a lunar reveal today
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:23 PM on April 24 [6 favorites]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:23 PM on April 24 [6 favorites]
I recently learned that the famous quote "There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark." from the end of Dark Side of the Moon which sounds nonsensical, is incomplete.
The full quote, made by the doorman from Abbey Road Studios, was "There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark. The only thing that makes it look light is the sun."
posted by justkevin at 2:30 PM on April 24 [11 favorites]
The full quote, made by the doorman from Abbey Road Studios, was "There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark. The only thing that makes it look light is the sun."
posted by justkevin at 2:30 PM on April 24 [11 favorites]
Down in front!
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:06 PM
Metaeponysterical?
posted by mollweide at 4:21 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:06 PM
Metaeponysterical?
posted by mollweide at 4:21 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
But where's the alien base?
All your base are belong to us.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:32 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
"DSCOVR is about a million miles from earth" - indeed, in the L1 point, I think.
posted by doctornemo at 4:33 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by doctornemo at 4:33 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
Does anyone know why there is a blue (left) and yellow (right) halo to the moon? Beautiful photos! Thank you for posting.
posted by astrobiophysican at 4:59 PM on April 24
posted by astrobiophysican at 4:59 PM on April 24
Because these are clearly fake. NASA's attempts to get us to believe that there's a "moon" are getting sadder all the time.
posted by polecat at 5:04 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by polecat at 5:04 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
That's no moon.
posted by swift at 5:13 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by swift at 5:13 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
“Oh, Moon, lovely Moon, with thy beautiful face
Careering throughout the boundaries of space
Whenever I see thee, I think in my mind
Shall I ever, oh ever, behold thy behind.”
Supposedly written by a Victorian housemaid and quoted by Patrick Moore. Suddenly remembered by me,
posted by Fuchsoid at 5:27 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
Careering throughout the boundaries of space
Whenever I see thee, I think in my mind
Shall I ever, oh ever, behold thy behind.”
Supposedly written by a Victorian housemaid and quoted by Patrick Moore. Suddenly remembered by me,
posted by Fuchsoid at 5:27 PM on April 24 [2 favorites]
Does anyone know why there is a blue (left) and yellow (right) halo to the moon? Beautiful photos! Thank you for posting.
I strongly suspect that each of these images is a composite of several individual frames taken through different single-channel filters (e.g. red, green, and blue filters, though they could be different in this case). There is a delay in between frames while a filter wheel rotates to put a different filter in front of the imaging sensor, and during that delay the moon moves relative to the earth. This is most visible at the leading and trailing edges of the moon. On one edge, perhaps, overlapping blue and red frames combine to make a blue and purple halo. On the other edge overlapping green and red frames combine to make a green and yellow halo.
posted by Songdog at 5:28 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]
I strongly suspect that each of these images is a composite of several individual frames taken through different single-channel filters (e.g. red, green, and blue filters, though they could be different in this case). There is a delay in between frames while a filter wheel rotates to put a different filter in front of the imaging sensor, and during that delay the moon moves relative to the earth. This is most visible at the leading and trailing edges of the moon. On one edge, perhaps, overlapping blue and red frames combine to make a blue and purple halo. On the other edge overlapping green and red frames combine to make a green and yellow halo.
posted by Songdog at 5:28 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]
Neat pix. Thanks for posting.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:35 PM on April 24
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:35 PM on April 24
With that prominent dark impact crater, it seems like the Moon would look like a big eyeball overlooking the earth if only the verso side were rotated toward us, which would be kinda cool. I can't help wondering what sort of creation stories would result.
Even at night, it's really Sol that provides our little nightlight. I often look up at the blue sky during the day and think about the fact that the stars are still out there, shining against the blackness of space, but the sun clouds our vision with its blinding light.
posted by effluvia at 5:56 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Even at night, it's really Sol that provides our little nightlight. I often look up at the blue sky during the day and think about the fact that the stars are still out there, shining against the blackness of space, but the sun clouds our vision with its blinding light.
posted by effluvia at 5:56 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
aww yiss shake that moneymaker
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:29 PM on April 24
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:29 PM on April 24
Wonder why that wasn't a solar eclipse that day. DCSOVR is at the L1 Lagrange point... but going between DSCOVR and earth is different than going between the sun and the earth? I guess that shows the L1 isn't really that far away... 0.01 AU.
posted by pjenks at 9:43 PM on April 24
posted by pjenks at 9:43 PM on April 24
All we need is an adjacent second earth and a second moon - and we could have to full set of googly eyes.
posted by rongorongo at 2:17 AM on April 25 [3 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 2:17 AM on April 25 [3 favorites]
DSCOVR’s camera is called EPIC.
EPIC has a double filter wheel with 10 filters, and a shutter wheel. The filters are used for detecting different things on Earth like ozone, aerosols, cloud reflectivity, cloud height, vegetation properties, and UV radiation estimates.
As Songdog surmises, ‘Color’ photos use the 551 nm (green, Aerosols/Vegetation), 680nm (red, Aerosols/Vegetation/Clouds/O2 B-Band Reference) and 443nm (blue, Aerosols) filters.
With exposure times and filter rotation, it takes about a minute to take all three images, which when stacked and processed, causes color fringing due to the movement of the moon.
posted by zamboni at 4:37 AM on April 25 [3 favorites]
EPIC has a double filter wheel with 10 filters, and a shutter wheel. The filters are used for detecting different things on Earth like ozone, aerosols, cloud reflectivity, cloud height, vegetation properties, and UV radiation estimates.
As Songdog surmises, ‘Color’ photos use the 551 nm (green, Aerosols/Vegetation), 680nm (red, Aerosols/Vegetation/Clouds/O2 B-Band Reference) and 443nm (blue, Aerosols) filters.
With exposure times and filter rotation, it takes about a minute to take all three images, which when stacked and processed, causes color fringing due to the movement of the moon.
posted by zamboni at 4:37 AM on April 25 [3 favorites]
The most surprising thing about seeing the solar eclipse in totality a few weeks ago was the presence of the moon, which is basically invisible all the way up until it completely covers the sun. Then you take off the glasses and suddenly the moon is right there! It's not a black void like in most pictures, it's actually a flat dull gray, much like it appears in these photos. I couldn't see any of the surface detail, it wasn't bright enough for that. But the effect is to make the moon a single even color. Usually everything in the sky is some kind of gradient, but this was just a large splotch of perfectly round flat color. It was really quite terrifying, you could feel the moon's presence in that moment in a way you usually can't. It felt like the moon was looking at me, actively drawing my attention and focus. And behind it shone the sun's starlight. I was not prepared for how spectacular the whole thing was. Now we're talking about traveling for the next one...
posted by grog at 7:15 AM on April 25 [4 favorites]
posted by grog at 7:15 AM on April 25 [4 favorites]
B-but I was told there is no Dark Side of the Moon, really!
As a matter of fact, it's all dark!
posted by slogger at 10:52 AM on April 25
As a matter of fact, it's all dark!
posted by slogger at 10:52 AM on April 25
I haven't seen it so I'm gonna say it... the front side looks better!
posted by numaner at 11:03 AM on April 25
posted by numaner at 11:03 AM on April 25
There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark."
But it really is all dark. Our moon has a super low albedo. Most commonly it's said to be about as reflective as coal.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:05 PM on April 25
But it really is all dark. Our moon has a super low albedo. Most commonly it's said to be about as reflective as coal.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:05 PM on April 25
Mod note: This view was so epic, we had to add it to the sidebar and Best Of Blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:22 AM on April 26
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:22 AM on April 26
Some years ago, I used this similar photo to calculate how far away the picture was taken from.
A back of the envelope calculation from the picture: around 942,000 miles.
Earth in this photo measures 2128 pixels from top to bottom. Meanwhile, the moon measures 778 pixels. According to Wikipedia, the moon's radius is .2727 that of Earth's. So if the Moon and the Earth were at the same distance, then the moon should either measure 580 pixels (=2128*.2727), or Earth should measure 2853 pixels (=778/.2727). In either case, either the Moon is larger than expected by 134%, or the Earth is smaller by 74.6% (same thing, just reciprocated 1/1.34 = .746)
We know from physics that an object twice as far away appears half as wide, half as close is twice as wide, etc. This combined with the means size estimate above means if we are 100% the distance away from the Earth, we're only 74.6% away from the Moon, because it appears 1/.746 bigger than it should.
Also from Wikipedia, the time averaged Earth-Moon distance is 385,000 km. So if "x" is our distance to Earth, x-0.746*x=385,000km. So 0.254x=385,000km, or x=385,000km/0.254=1,515,748km or about 942,000 miles from Earth.
posted by fings at 8:10 AM on April 26 [1 favorite]
A back of the envelope calculation from the picture: around 942,000 miles.
Earth in this photo measures 2128 pixels from top to bottom. Meanwhile, the moon measures 778 pixels. According to Wikipedia, the moon's radius is .2727 that of Earth's. So if the Moon and the Earth were at the same distance, then the moon should either measure 580 pixels (=2128*.2727), or Earth should measure 2853 pixels (=778/.2727). In either case, either the Moon is larger than expected by 134%, or the Earth is smaller by 74.6% (same thing, just reciprocated 1/1.34 = .746)
We know from physics that an object twice as far away appears half as wide, half as close is twice as wide, etc. This combined with the means size estimate above means if we are 100% the distance away from the Earth, we're only 74.6% away from the Moon, because it appears 1/.746 bigger than it should.
Also from Wikipedia, the time averaged Earth-Moon distance is 385,000 km. So if "x" is our distance to Earth, x-0.746*x=385,000km. So 0.254x=385,000km, or x=385,000km/0.254=1,515,748km or about 942,000 miles from Earth.
posted by fings at 8:10 AM on April 26 [1 favorite]
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I’ll never get tired of looking at pictures taken of space or from space
posted by Kattullus at 1:38 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]