andsoitis5d ago

Artemis II crew take 'spectacular' image of Earth

https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/fd02_for-pao/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8jzr423p9o

Hello, World - NASA

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft's window on April 2, 2026, after completing the translunar injection burn.

NASA
Show threadSharlin5d ago
I was confused when I first saw this photo, as I don't think I've ever before seen a nightside, moonlit Earth, exposed so that it looks like the dayside at a first glance. I wonder how many casual viewers actually realize it's the night side. A nice demonstration of how moonlight is pretty much exactly like sunlight, just much much dimmer. In particular it has the same color, even though moonlight is often thought of as bluish and sunlight as yellowish!
Show threadlayer85d ago
It explains why the image is so grainy. At first I was confused what that stripe to the left and the bottom was. But it’s just the window edge, and the noise isn’t stars.
Show threadSharlin
(To be clear, the bright dots are stars [except the brightest one, in the lower right, is Venus I think], which makes this photo also a great demonstration that of course you can capture stars in space, you just have to expose properly!)
Apr 3 at 8:44pmWeb
Show threadMarkusQ5d ago

How do you know that they're stars? I believe they probably are stars as well (by visual comparison with a star chart, suitably rotated), but I've found no source for either claim.

I did find multiple sources, including TFA, for the brightest being Venus.

Show threadSharlin5d ago
They're much brighter than the noise floor. Photographic noise doesn't really have such outliers.
Show threaddylan6045d ago
Why would you think they are not stars? Not really sure the confusion on the matter. Are we leaning towards this being shot from a soundstage?
Show threadMarkusQ5d ago

Just answered my own question to my satisfaction; they are stars.

The same specs, which match star charts, show up in two images taken a few moments apart at different exposures (links were given down-thread).

Show threaddylan6045d ago
Who said you can't capture stars in space? What do you think the purpose of Hubble, JWST, etc are? There's also plenty of imagery taken from ISS that clearly show stars. I've definitely seen Orion in some of that imagery and it put a different perspective on the size of the constellations when seen from that angle.
Show threadsmallerize5d ago
Photos from the moon landings don't have stars in them, because they are exposed for full daylight on the moon.
Show threadSharlin5d ago
I referred to the common question (or accusation) of why there are no stars in, say, the Apollo photos taken on the moon. The answer is, of course, that you can't see stars if you're exposing for something bright and sunlit, like the day side of Earth, or the lunar surface.