In r/astronomy and r/nasa, people dissect Artemis II Earth imagery, pushing back on misleading Blue Marble side by sides and explaining exposure, processing, moonlight versus sunlight, and livestream bandwidth limits.
The “Hello World” and “Blue Marble” photos of the earth draw many wrong conclusions. So let’s set the fact straight
People keep putting the recent Earth images shared from Artemis II next to the “Blue Marble” from Apollo 17 and then saying things like “Earth looks dirtier now”
fyi, The reason we can see the Stars and City Lights is because of this picture being taken on the night side of the Earth + The longer exposure time.
It is actually testament to 50 years of progress in photography technology from film to highly sensitive digital sensors, that enabled them to extract a reasonably good looking image from a quick shot if the _nightside_ of earth.
New High Resolution Image of The Earth taken by the Artemis II astronauts.
Hello, World: Artemis II crew looks back at Earth on their way to the Moon
People keep putting the recent Earth images shared from Artemis II next to the “Blue Marble” from Apollo 17 and then saying things like “Earth looks dirtier now” or “the new photos look worse because of digital camera.”
To orient folks: North is down; south is up.
The NASA social media admin should've really clarified that this is under moonlight, not sunlight. It's causing a lot of confusion online.
It was taken with a much shorter shutter speed, 1/15s vs. 1/4s, and narrower aperture, f/5.6 vs. f/4, which is why it looks darker.
That comparison doesn’t hold up. So let’s set the fact straight.
The Blue Marble everyone recognizes is not a straight-out-of-camera image.
It’s worth mentioning that the top left image is a fully separate photo from the top right “Hello World” image.
It’s worth mentioning that the top left image is a fully separate photo from the top right “Hello World” image. It was taken with a much shorter shutter speed, 1/15s vs. 1/4s, and narrower aperture, f/5.6 vs. f/4, which is why it looks darker.
People keep putting the recent Earth images shared from Artemis II next to the “Blue Marble” from Apollo 17 and then saying things like “Earth looks dirtier now” or “the new photos look worse because of digital camera.” Etc.
The “Hello World” and “Blue Marble” photos of the earth draw many wrong conclusions.
Hey, r/nasa! We've seen some conversations on the video quality of our live coverage as Artemis II heads towards the Moon.
our current bandwidth is a little lower and sometimes prioritized for mission activities.
This finding is one of many signals tracked across Space. The live feed updates every few hours with new authority voices, debates, and emerging ideas.
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