APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

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APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by APOD Robot » Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:16 am

Image Tranquility Base Panorama

Explanation: On July 20, 1969 the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle safely touched down on the Moon. It landed near the southwestern corner of the Moon's Mare Tranquillitatis at a landing site dubbed Tranquility Base. This panoramic view of Tranquility Base was constructed from the historic photos taken from the lunar surface. On the far left astronaut Neil Armstrong casts a long shadow with Sun is at his back and the Eagle resting about 60 meters away ( AS11-40-5961). He stands near the rim of 30 meter-diameter Little West crater seen here to the right ( AS11-40-5954). Also visible in the foreground is the top of the camera intended for taking stereo close-ups of the lunar surface.

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by jks » Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:21 am

Please note that the date at the top is "2019 July 18" and the Discuss link links to the discussion for yesterday's APOD.

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by orin stepanek » Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:34 am

looks like something way to the right & above the crater! I can't make it out!
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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by bls0326 » Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:31 pm

I did a couple of clicks on the pic to full size. One can get a really nice close-up view of the lander.

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by starsurfer » Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:09 pm

Audrey Hepburn's version of Moon River is nice.

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by neufer » Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:23 pm


orin stepanek wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:34 am
looks like something way to the right & above the crater! I can't make it out!
You need to see the entire sequence :arrow:
Art Neuendorffer

toneyvr

Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by toneyvr » Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:15 pm

The shadows are all over the place - I presume the stitched photos were from considerably different dates?

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by TheOtherBruce » Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:33 pm

toneyvr wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:15 pm The shadows are all over the place - I presume the stitched photos were from considerably different dates?
Can't be all that different, they were only out on the surface for a couple of hours, so the sun would barely move. What you're seeing is perspective effects — I've read a pretty thorough explanation on the Bad Astronomy website, but in rough terms, the camera lens is set to a different focal length than your eyes, so perspective and the apparent direction of vanishing points are a bit off from what you'd expect to see.

And don't forget, it is a panorama view; the direction of the sunlight relative to where the camera's pointing is very different between the left and right edges of this composite picture. You can see the same effect here on earth when you use a camera with a "panoramic landscape" setting.

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by justvisitingthisplanet » Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:43 pm

The relatively small crater on the right offers a stark reminder of the utterly brilliant piloting job by Neil Armstrong. With precious little fuel remaining, he had to navigate his and Buzz Aldrin's little craft to a flat place with few rocks or else the mission would have either had to abort or face disaster. Experts please correct me if I'm wrong, but if they had landed at more than a slight angle, their liftoff to return to the Command Module would have been in serious jeopardy (among other problems).

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by Psnarf » Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:14 pm

Be proud! Be very proud!!

That is the shadow of a man standing on the moon.
:shock:

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by geckzilla » Fri Jul 19, 2019 6:25 pm

TheOtherBruce wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:33 pm
toneyvr wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:15 pm The shadows are all over the place - I presume the stitched photos were from considerably different dates?
Can't be all that different, they were only out on the surface for a couple of hours, so the sun would barely move. What you're seeing is perspective effects — I've read a pretty thorough explanation on the Bad Astronomy website, but in rough terms, the camera lens is set to a different focal length than your eyes, so perspective and the apparent direction of vanishing points are a bit off from what you'd expect to see.

And don't forget, it is a panorama view; the direction of the sunlight relative to where the camera's pointing is very different between the left and right edges of this composite picture. You can see the same effect here on earth when you use a camera with a "panoramic landscape" setting.
Here's an example of a panorama taken at Racetrack Playa:
Image
Racetrack Playa Pano by SoundSpeeds, on Flickr
What's great about this is that the rock has traced a path across the landscape, showing how a straight line looks curved in a panorama. All the shadows are essentially straight lines pointing toward the Sun, but they're also curved because they follow the geometric mapping of the panorama, not straight paths to the Sun, even though they do point toward it in reality.
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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by orin stepanek » Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:45 am

neufer wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:23 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:34 am
looks like something way to the right & above the crater! I can't make it out!
You need to see the entire sequence :arrow:
Ok! Art I was looking at what is above that! A white spot on the ground; and a dark spot above the ground! I love the fairy godmother concept for what must be a lens artifact! :mrgreen:
Orin

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Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)

Post by TheOtherBruce » Sat Jul 20, 2019 1:13 am

neufer wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:23 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:34 am looks like something way to the right & above the crater! I can't make it out!
You need to see the entire sequence :arrow:
I always get confused when I see the original movie — which sparkly bit is the "low fuel warning" light...? :wink:

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