This Is Real: NASA Camera – A Million Miles Away – Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

https://scitechdaily.com ^ | FEBRUARY 5, 2022 | By COLIN KOVARIK

[Red Badger]

This animation features actual satellite images of the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DSCOVR spacecraft’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and telescope, and the Earth – one million miles away. Credit: NASA/NOAA

Although it looks fake, this viral footage of the Moon orbiting Earth is actually real. It’s just not new, despite making the rounds again this week; it actually was captured over 6 years ago.

Back in 2015, a NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) captured this unique series of images displaying the ‘dark side’ of the moon. The ‘dark side’ of the moon is often used to refer to the hemisphere of the moon that is facing away from Earth. However, it is more properly called the ‘far side’ as it is exposed to an equal amount of sunlight as the side facing Earth. We can never view the ‘far side’ from Earth due to a phenomenon called tidal locking, which occurs when an astronomical body takes the same amount of time to complete a full rotation around its axis and fully orbit around its partner.

Although DSCOVR’s primary purpose is to monitor solar winds for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the satellite also houses NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) which captured these images. This four-megapixel CCD camera and telescope maintains a constant view of Earth as it orbits and takes 13-22 images every day.

In order to capture Earth’s ‘natural color’, NASA combines three different monochrome exposures taken 30 seconds apart. The final combined image has a slight green offset to the right of the moon and thin blue and red offsets to the left of it which is due to the Moon’s movement between each exposure.

If you wish to view more images taken by EPIC, NASA publishes daily color images of different views of the Earth as it rotates throughout the day.

[LouieFisk]

I’m guessing the reason for not having a video camera instead of using still images strung together is the same reason as why Bigfoot videos are always shaky and UFO images are never clear. It’s the law.

[CtBigPat]

That's no moon...

[Red Badger]

Better than being captured by Uranus, I suppose.................

[Red Badger]

It shows the Western US and Mexico....................

[Syllojism]

Based on that animation, the moon orbits the earth in about 20 hours, not 28 days.

The earth, the moon, and the camera are all in motion, and the distances between them are immense. This only shows a small arc of the moon's rotation around earth.

[Campion]

Images from today

[mabarker1]

So does this mean we’re looking at the backside of the Darkside of the moon ?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Extrapolate that small arc of the moon to 360 degrees. Compare the speed of the orbiting moon to the rotational surface speed of the earth — they are close to equal. The moon would not be in its orbit at that orbital speed.

[Red Badger]

I SEE Jimmy and Susie and Margie and.........

[Red Badger]

Yes and no....................

[Carriage Hill]

Makes sense.

[heavy metal]

see my post #4...

[mware]

Cool, far side of the moon.

[Campion]

Video at the same resolution would require a lot more bandwidth to transmit, and wouldn't show you anything more than still images would.

Another way of putting it is that things (almost always) don't change fast enough in space to make the 29 frames-per-second transmission rate for video worthwhile.

[Campion]

Ask them to wave & smile.

[Campion]

Ask them to wave & smile.

[Chode]

prettymuch

[Red Badger]

I would, but they are so old now it’s difficult with their arthritis and all..............

[Campion]

The moon's max orbital velocity, per NASA, is 1.082 km/sec. That's 2,420 mph. The rotational velocity of earth at the equator is 25,000 miles / 24 hours, or 1,040 mph.

Your move ...

[Campion]

We have the same friends!