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APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:16 am
by APOD Robot
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.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:21 am
by jks
Please note that the date at the top is "2019 July 18" and the Discuss link links to the discussion for yesterday's APOD.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:34 am
by orin stepanek
looks like something way to the right & above the crater! I can't make it out!
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:31 pm
by bls0326
I did a couple of clicks on the pic to full size. One can get a really nice close-up view of the lander.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:09 pm
by starsurfer
Audrey Hepburn's version of Moon River is nice.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:23 pm
by neufer
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
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:15 pm
by toneyvr
The shadows are all over the place - I presume the stitched photos were from considerably different dates?
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:33 pm
by TheOtherBruce
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.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:43 pm
by justvisitingthisplanet
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).
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:14 pm
by Psnarf
Be proud! Be very proud!!
That is the shadow of a man standing on the moon.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 6:25 pm
by geckzilla
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:
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.
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:45 am
by orin stepanek
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
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!
Re: APOD: Tranquility Base Panorama (2019 Jul 19)
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 1:13 am
by TheOtherBruce
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
I always get confused when I see the original movie — which sparkly bit is the "low fuel warning" light...?
