Do you know what is the true color of the moon? This “super picture” answers
2 min readWhat color is the moon? Contrary to what our eyes see, the moon is not white or yellow, but has a wide range of colors in gray, white, blue and brown. These details were revealed by two astrophotographers, who took more than 200,000 images and detailed the colors and craters of the Earth’s natural satellite.
The most impressive image of the moon we’ve ever seen was created by Andrew McCarthy, an astrophotographer known for his stunning images of the universe, and Connor Mathern, a planetary scientist and amateur astrophotographer.
The two were connected first on Reddit and then on Instagram. After talking about each other’s strengths, they decide to team up to take a picture of the moon.
“When we put our heads together, we manage to do something off-target for both of us, which is great. Everything is put together like a mosaic, and each tile is made up of thousands of images,” McCarthy told NPR.
An image requires more than 200,000 images and two years of processing to create
Photo: Andrew McCarthy and Conor Mathern
Salute to the mission of Artemis
Andrew McCarthy stated on Instagram that the photo is a tribute to the Artemis 1 mission, scheduled for next Monday (29). NASA aims for the mission to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by the end of this decade.
According to McCarthy, the project in partnership with Conor Mathern was called “The Hunt for Artemis.” [“Caçada à Artemis”, em tradução livre]a collaborative homage to the Artemis 1 mission, scheduled for August 29.
“In 9 days, a human-grade lunar rocket will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, demonstrating our ability to conduct manned missions to the moon for the first time in 50 years,” he wrote on Instagram.
How was the photo taken?
The photo was taken in just one night. For perfection, the two astrophotographers took thousands of photos. McCarthy took more than 200,000 detailed photos of the moon from Arizona, while Mathern took another 500 photos from Louisiana.
While Andrew focused on the details, Matheren focused on the natural satellite colors. After taking the photos, the two worked for at least two years to get the moon’s true color and accurately show the craters.
According to Gizmodo, the gorgeous image totals 174 megapixels. McCarthy and Mathern explained to the publication that they did not use super-specialized equipment to take the images – only conventional cameras and an astronomical position tracker to move the camera.
“Entrepreneur. Music enthusiast. Lifelong communicator. General coffee aficionado. Internet scholar.”
:strip_icc()/s04.video.glbimg.com/x720/11792055.jpg)
:strip_icc()/s03.video.glbimg.com/x720/11786998.jpg)
