Real photos of space in high quality. The most famous photographs of the earth from space

Remember the movie “Men in Black”, where Agent Kay looked through an orbital camera at his beloved watering flowers in the courtyard? The opportunity to see what our Earth looks like from a satellite in real time attracts people from all over the world. Today we will tell you - and show you! - the best fruits of modern Earth observation technologies.

Attention! If you see a dark screen, it means the cameras are in the shadows. Screensaver or gray screen - no signal.

Usually we only get static satellite maps, frozen in time - details are not updated for years, and an eternal summer day reigns outside. Isn't it interesting to see how beautiful the Earth is from a satellite online in winter or at night? In addition, the quality of images of some regions of Russia and the CIS leaves much to be desired. But now all this can be solved in one fell swoop - thanks to , Earth online from a satellite in real time is no longer science fiction. Right on this page you can join thousands of people who are now observing the planet.

At an altitude of 400 kilometers above the planet, where the station is permanently located, NASA installed one developed by private companies. The astronauts themselves or at the commands of the Mission Control Center direct the cameras from which data is transmitted. Thanks to manual control, we can see what the Earth looks like from a satellite online from all sides - its atmosphere, mountains, cities and oceans. And the mobility of the station allows you to view half of the globe in an hour.

How does the broadcast happen?

Thanks to the fact that the cameras are located at the International Station, even minor details are visible to us, which are commented on by scientists, astronauts and professional journalists. However, our Earth is visible online from a satellite in real time thanks to the work of a whole complex of people and machines - in addition to the already mentioned astronauts and the Control Center, the process involves satellite communication transmission technologies, solar power batteries and technical specialists involved in data translation and decoding. Accordingly, the broadcast has its own nuances - knowing them will help you see more and better understand what is happening on the screen.

Our observation point, the orbital station, moves at enormous speed - almost 28 thousand kilometers per hour, and circles the Earth in 90-92 minutes. Half of this time, 45 minutes, the station hangs on the night side. And although on approach the solar panels of the cameras can be powered by sunset light, in the depths the electricity disappears - therefore it is not always available from the satellite. At such moments, the broadcast screen turns gray; Just wait a little and you will be watching the sunrise with the astronauts.

In order to find the best time for observations, you will need our special satellite map of the Earth - it marks not only the time of passage of the space station, but also its exact position. This way you can find out when to see your city from space heights, or find a station in the sky with binoculars or a telescope!

We have already mentioned that astronauts and ground control can change the aiming of cameras - they perform not only an entertaining, but also a scientific function. At such moments, planet Earth is not accessible from a satellite in real time - a black or blue screensaver appears on the screen, or already captured moments are repeated. If there are no interruptions in satellite communications, the station is located on the day side of the planet, and the background suddenly changes, then the cameras are filming areas inaccessible to the public due to international treaties. Secret objects and forbidden territories are closed on static maps, skillfully hidden by photo editors or simply erased. All that remains is to wait for the moment when the situation in the world relaxes, and there will be no secrets from ordinary citizens.

Hidden Features

But don't be upset if the camera isn't working right now! When planet Earth cannot be shown online from satellite, astronauts and NASA find other entertainment for viewers. You will see life inside the International Space Station, astronauts in zero gravity, who talk about their work and what kind of satellite view of the Earth will be shown next. They even allow you to look into the impressively large Mission Control Center. The only negative is that even the speech of Russian cosmonauts is translated into English so that it can be understood by the American employees who manage the Center. It is currently not possible to turn off translation. Also, don’t be surprised by the silence - comments are not always appropriate, and there is no constant sound accompaniment yet.

For those who predict the route of cameras using the capabilities provided by a real-time satellite map of the Earth, we have advice - check the date and time settings on your computer. The server that updates the map uses the given International Station motion formula and the time zone of your IP address to predict the position of the orbital cameras. The online map judges what the Earth looks like from a satellite solely based on the device’s time. If your clock is slow or fast relative to the time zone, the station will move east or west accordingly. The use of proxy servers and anonymizers will also affect the results.

You are a participant in a scientific program

You've probably noticed that the quality of the picture of planet Earth from space and the live satellite broadcast often changes - the image is covered with squares or lags behind the audio track. In most cases, it is enough to check the speed of your Internet connection, disable other videos and programs for downloading files, or click on the HD button in the broadcast window. However, even if there are interruptions, it is worth remembering that the planet can only be seen alive thanks to a large-scale scientific experiment.

Yes, yes - the video on this page is transmitted for a reason. The cameras installed on the International Space Station are part of the High Definition Earth Viewing program, which is still being improved and developed. The cameras are installed by astronauts in conditions isolated from cold and dust, but they are exposed to harsh radiation from the outside. Scientists are experimenting with the difficulties of continuous data transmission in space, ensuring that a map of the Earth from a satellite in good quality exists not only motionless, but also living, dynamic. The results will help improve existing channels and create new ones - even in Mars orbit in the foreseeable future.

So let's stay in touch - new things appear in the world of space every day!

The nature of our planet is diverse and unique. By traveling around our planet and photographing nature, you can create amazingly beautiful pictures. Photographs of the Earth from space, from an altitude of more than 700,000 m, are not similar to the photographs of nature that we are accustomed to. They are more reminiscent of paintings by abstract artists.

The US Geological Survey has published unique photographs of the Earth obtained from the Lanstad 7 space satellite. These photographs clearly show natural landscapes and human creations. They photograph the destruction caused by natural anomalies and the negative consequences of human activity. These images are actual satellite photographs of the Earth's surface, created by transferring visible and infrared data to print in colors visible to the human eye. Special range and color combinations were chosen to optimize these stunning shots.

Bogda Mountains in China

The Turpan Depression, located at the foot of the Bogda Mountains, consists of salt lakes and sand dunes. The Turpan depression is notable for the fact that it is the deepest in Central Asia and the third in the world after the Dead Sea basin and Lake Kinneret.

Southwestern coast of the Netherlands

The delta region in the southwest of the country, formed by the mouths of several rivers, is protected from flooding by a series of levees and dams. After unusually powerful tides devastated the area in the spring of 1953, a complex system of dikes, canals, barrages and bridges was built to hold back the North Sea.

Akpatok Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The island is located at the northwestern entrance to Ungava Bay. The island is surrounded by steep cliffs ranging from 40 to 250 meters in height. The island is a reliable refuge for migratory and nesting birds. Numerous ice floes around the island attract walruses and whales, making Akpatok a traditional hunting ground for the indigenous Inuit people.

China

An alluvial fan formed between the Anlong and Kunlong mountain ranges on the southern border of the Taklamakan Desert in China. Alluvial cones are formed on land, at the foot of mountains, where water flows carrying debris material, which is deposited in the shape of a convex semi-cone, with its apex facing the place of removal.

Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco

The southwestern part of the Atlas Mountains, located in western North Africa. It is home to some of the richest yet untapped mineral deposits in the world.

Bolivia

This photo shows how the virgin Amazon rainforests are being brutally cut down. The surviving untouched forests are highlighted in red.

Brandberg mountain range, Namibia

Located in Damaraland, in the northwestern part of the Namib Desert, close to the coast and covering an area of ​​approximately 650 square kilometers. Brandberg is the result of an ancient earthquake, as a result of which molten granite flowed through the resulting fault onto the surface of the earth. Unique communities of plants and animals inhabit its high-altitude environment, and prehistoric rock art adorns the steep cliffs.

Cabo San Antonio, Province of Buenos Aires

Cape San Antonio in Argentina, more than 500 kilometers long, wedges into the Atlantic Ocean.

Cancun

Famous for its beaches and hotels, Cancun is located on the Yucatan island. Located in the depths of the peninsula, tropical forests hide the ruins of Mayan buildings.

Volcano Colima, Mexico

A volcano in western Mexico, 80 km from the Pacific coast. Mexico's most active volcano, it has erupted more than 40 times since 1576. It includes two peaks: one is extinct, the other is active.

State of Campeche, Mexico

Named after the ancient Mayan province, Campeche includes most of the western Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. In the West it is washed by the Gulf of Mexico. More than 40% of the state is considered a protected natural area.

Coahuila, Mexico

This desert landscape is part of the Siedra Madre mountain system, which crosses the state of Coahuila from northwest to southeast.

Dasht-Kevir, Iran

Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), is the largest desert in Iran and one of the most lifeless deserts on Earth. The surface of the desert is covered with crusts of salt, which protects the meager moisture from complete evaporation.

Demini River, Brazil

A section of the swampy Demini River in northwestern Brazil, which flows into the Amazon.

Devastation Canyon, USA

The Green River, a tributary of the Colorado River, flows through three states: Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. The river flows along the high mountain plateau of Tavapust (above), then among gorges and canyons. Passing along the Canyon of Devastation (in the center), its banks become steep and sheer and reach 5-6 thousand pounds in height. Devastation Canyon is the second largest in the United States after the Grand Canyon.

Mongolia

A transition zone located between the Mongolian steppes in the north and the dry arid desert of Northern China in the south. In the local dialect Edrengiyn Nuruu.

Ganges Delta

At the point where it flows into the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges River forms a vast delta. The delta area is covered by swampy forests known as the Sunderbans, which is home to the Royal Bengal tiger.

Garden City, Kansas, USA

This space photo is like a fantastic mosaic panel. This is what Garden City, USA looks like from space.

Ghadames River, Libya

Dry bed of the Ghadames River on a plateau near the Tinhet Mountains in Libya.

Gosses Bluff Crater

About 130 million years ago, an asteroid or comet impacted Australia's Mission Plains and created a crater 14 km in diameter and 4 km deep. In the language of the locals, it is called Tnorala, that is, “Devil's rock of the fiery tread of the sun.”

Great Salt Desert, Iran

The shallow lakes and winding desert valleys look more like splashes of paint on a canvas than a desert landscape. The desert is located in an uninhabited area in Iran.

Sand dunes, Australia

There are no other deserts equal in size to it in Australia. Due to the arid climate, agricultural activities are impossible here. The variegation of color is caused by the complexity and diversity of the geological structure of the desert.

Sand dunes, Australia

The photo shows part of Australia's Great Sandy Desert. Sand dunes are indicated in the image with yellow horizontal lines. The brightest spot in the photo is the fire mark.

Baffin Sea

Baffin Bay, between Greenland and Baffin Island, is covered with ice most of the year.

Guinea-Bissau

A small country in West Africa. The country's extensive river system washes large amounts of silt into the ocean. This silt appears light blue in satellite photos. In red are tropical forests.

Harrat Al Birk, Saudi Arabia

The dark volcanic cones in the lava fields, formed from igneous solidified lava, along the Red Sea coastline are known as Harrat Al Birk. Such lava fields are often found on the Arabian Peninsula, their age ranges from 2 to 30 million years.

Himalayas

The mountain system, located between the Tibetan Plateau in the north and the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the south, stretches 2900 km in length and 350 km in width. Glaciers are located mainly around the largest mountain ranges and the highest peaks.

Location of the Iraqi Army

The area where Iraqi troops are stationed north of the city of Al-Basra. Previously there was a marshy area, which was subsequently drained and fenced. Today it is a military training area.

Jau National Park, Brazil

One of the largest national parks in Brazil. The Jau Park is located primarily in the Jau River basin, one of the small tributaries of the Rio Negro. The park's area covers the territories of several natural ecosystems of the Amazon: moist equatorial forests, never-flooded interfluve areas, periodically flooded high floodplains and low floodplains that are flooded for many months. A large variety of fauna is also associated with the so-called “black rivers”. These rivers are usually deeper, the water in them is clear and has a darkish tint due to the organic remains of decaying plants.

Jordan

The river network of Jordan is formed by wadis - temporary watercourses that are full only in winter during the rainy season. In summer they dry out or become very shallow.

Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia

The eastern part of the Kamchatka coast, covered with ice. On the right in the photo is the Bering Sea.

Von Karman Vortexes, Aleutian Islands

The picture shows circular vortices of clouds (the so-called von Kármán vortices) resulting from the separation of air mass flows over land masses, in this case occurring over the Aleutian Islands of North America.

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Mount Kilimanjaro is clearly visible from almost all points of the savannahs of Tanzania and Kenya - steep slopes rise to a flat top. The gigantic size of the mountain forms its own microclimate.

Lake Konari, Iran

The small town of Konari in the Zagros Mountains. In the lower left corner is the Caspian Sea.

Lake Amadeus, Australia

Endorheic salt dry Lake Amadeus in central Australia (top right). During the dry season, the surface of the lake turns into a surface sparkling with salt crystals. The yellow strokes in the photo are sun-scorched vegetation.

Lake Carnegie, Australia

Lake Carnegie fills with water during the rainy season. During dry periods it turns into a swamp.

Lake Disappointment, Australia

Salt Lake in Western Australia. It dries out during the dry months. It got its name thanks to the traveler Frank Hann. After exploring a large number of streams in the study area, he hoped to find a freshwater lake. But to his disappointment, this lake also turned out to be salty.

Lena River Delta, Russia

This is the largest river delta in the world. For approximately seven months of the year, the river delta is covered with ice. Not far from the Lena River basin is the largest nature reserve in Russia. The dark blue color on top is the Arctic Ocean.

Malaspina Glacier, Alaska, USA

Glacier named after the navigator and geographer Alessandro Malaspina. The blue color reflects the cold water of the melting glacier.

Mississippi River Delta, USA

The Mississippi is the longest river flowing in North America. Approximately every thousand years, the restless Mississippi River chooses new tributaries, having already furrowed about 320 km of the Gulf of Mexico coastline in the delta.

Volcano Etna, Italy

Etna is an active, highest volcano in Europe, located on the east coast of Sicily. The photograph captured the volcano's eruption in 2001. Columns of steam and smoke are visible escaping from the crater and lava flows on the slopes of the mountain.

Namib Desert, Namibia

Coastal winds create sand dunes 300 meters high, which are visible even from space.

Niger River, Africa

The river delta, which is 250 kilometers long and 325 kilometers wide, is the largest in Africa. The Niger River originates in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, in the highlands of Guinea. From there it turns northeast through Mali, passing through the southern Sahara Desert, then turning south and passing through the territory of Niger and Nigeria, emptying into the Gulf of Guinea.

Fjords of Norway

In the northern part of the west coast of Norway there are fjords that were formed during the last ice age. Norway has the largest concentration of fjords in the world. The entire coast of Norway is indented by fjords. Some specimens go to depths of hundreds of meters.

Ocean sands of the Bahamas

This satellite photo shows underwater sands off the coast of the Bahamas, formed by waves and ocean currents. The greenish color is algae.

Kalahari Desert, Namibia

The Kalahari is a vast kingdom of sand. Sand dunes are rapidly encroaching on once fertile and arable land. In the picture they are indicated by stripes. The pale pink color in the photo shows healthy vegetation.

Parana River Delta, South America

The Parana River flows in the southern part of the continent through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. The Paraná is the main waterway providing water supply and navigation in the region. The photograph clearly shows the contrast between the swamps (green) and the forests (reddish).

Volcano Pinacate, Mexico

In the north-west of the Mexican state of Sonora, on the territory of the desert of the same name, there is a zone of extinct activity of the Pinacate volcano. Peace and quiet reign here, occasionally disturbed by sudden eruptions of volcanic rocks. Crater cones extending deep into the earth are chaotically scattered throughout the desert.

Geological structure of Richat, Africa

The Richat structure is a geological formation in the western part of the Sahara Desert, called the “Eye of the Sahara” or “Eye of the Desert”. The diameter of the crater is 50 km. The origin of the structure is still controversial among scientists and it is believed that the sedimentary rocks of the Richat structure are the result of erosion of the earth's crust.

Shoemaker Crater, Australia

A crater formed as a result of a meteorite fall about 1700 million years ago. The diameter of the crater is about 30 km.

Sulaiman Mountains, Pakistan

The Sulaiman Mountains are located in the Pakistani province of Balochistan and in the Afghani province of Zabul. The length of the mountains is about 600 km.

Syrian desert

The Syrian Desert is a desert in the Middle East, between the Euphrates River valley and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is located on the territory of the states of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.

Oasis Terkezi, Chad

Sands of the Sahara Desert, near the Terkezi oasis in Chad.

Ugab River, Namibia

The Ugab River is vital to Namibia. During the dry season it dries out. During the heavy rainy season, the Ugab River valley becomes a refuge for elephants.

Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland

Vatnajokull is the largest glacier not only in Iceland, but also in Europe. Most of the country's rivers originate here. Vatnajökull (translated from the Spanish as “lake glacier”) was named so because of the lakes located under the ice in its volcanically active central part.

Volga River Basin, Russia

The basin of the Volga River, which splits into more than 500 channels. One of the largest rivers in the world. Flows into the Caspian Sea.

Westfjords, Iceland

The Westfjords are a group of several peninsulas located in the northwest of Iceland.

Yukon River Delta

A river flowing in northwestern Canada and the United States and emptying into the Bering Sea. The complex, winding and tangled waterways of the river are like blood vessels. Currently it is a national reserve.

Seeing the Earth from space is an unforgettable experience. It is something soothing, beautiful and inspiring. Let's hope that in the near future many, and not just a select few, will be able to enjoy the view of our home planet from space. Until we have such an opportunity, we have to be content with breathtaking photographs like the ten that are included in this collection.

(Total 11 photos)

1. Earth from a distance of 4 billion miles from Voyager 1 (the luminous point in the center of the right flare). This photo is an enlargement of one of the 16 frames that make up a panoramic view of the Solar System. (NASA)

2. The most detailed view of the Earth for 2002, collected by a team of specialists from many frames taken over many months. Most of the data was collected by the MODIS probe on board the Terra research satellite. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stockli)

3. Earthrise. The photo was taken from Apollo 11 in 1969 during the first manned flight and landing on the Moon. (NASA)

4. The first shot of the Earth and the Moon in one frame. It was taken by Voyager 1 from a distance of 11.66 million kilometers from Earth. (NASA)

5. Terminator line on the surface of the Earth, photograph taken during the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. (NASA)

7.View of the Earth and Moon from Mars. The first ever photograph of Earth from another planet, taken by the Mariner 10 probe. (SA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)

8. Earthrise, seen from the dark side of the Moon. Photo from Apollo 16, 1972. The first photographs of the dark side of the Moon were taken by the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft in 1959. Man first saw it with his own eyes in 1968 from Apollo 8. (NASA)

9. An Apollo 17 astronaut plants a flag on the surface of the Moon, 1972. The mission, which lasted 504 hours, made it possible to bring 117 kg of soil samples from the Moon and carry out in-depth geological exploration. (NASA)

10. The crescent of the Earth above the lunar horizon. Photo from Apollo 15, 1971. This lunar mission was the first to use an all-terrain vehicle (MRV), capable of reaching speeds of up to 16 km/h.

11. Water is everywhere on our planet - from the earth’s crust to our cells. Water in the oceans and in the atmosphere. In the form of liquid or ice, it covers 75% of the planet's surface. The total volume of water on Earth is estimated at 1.39 billion cubic kilometers, and 96.5% of this volume is found in the oceans. (NASA Earth Observatory)

"Post from the Past": On September 22, after the crew of Expedition 23 was sent into space, Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock assumed command of the International Space Station and the crew of Expedition 25. He can be found under the handle @Astro_Wheels on Twitter, where the astronaut posts photos taken from board the space station. We bring to your attention incredible, breathtaking photographs of our planet from an unusual point of view. Commentary provided by Douglas.

1. Go Discovery! On October 23, 2007 at 11:40 am, I went into space for the first time on the Discovery shuttle. He is wonderful... it's a pity that this is his last flight. I'm looking forward to boarding the ship when it arrives at the station in November.

2. Earthly radiance. The space station is in the blue terrestrial glow that appears when the rising sun pierces our planet's thin atmosphere, bathing the station in blue light. I will never forget this place... a view like this makes my soul sing and my heart wants to fly.

3. NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock.

4. Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa. The amazing colors of these places can compete with the views of the Caribbean Sea.

5. Northern lights in the distance on one of the beautiful nights over Europe. The Strait of Dover is clearly visible in the photo, as is Paris, the city of lights. Light fog over western England, particularly London. How incredible it is to see the lights of cities and towns against the backdrop of deep space. I will miss this view of our wonderful world.

6. “Fly me to the Moon...let me dance among the Stars...” (Take me to the Moon, let's dance among the stars). I hope we never lose our sense of wonder. A passion for exploration and discovery is a great legacy to leave to your children. I hope someday we'll set our sails and set off on a journey. Someday this wonderful day will come...

7. Of all the places on our magnificent planet, few can compete in beauty and richness of colors with. This photo shows our ship “Progress-37” against the backdrop of the Bahamas. How beautiful our world is!

8. At a speed of 28,163 km/h (8 km per second)... we orbit the Earth, making one revolution every 90 minutes, and seeing sunsets and sunrises every 45 minutes. So half of our journey takes place in pitch darkness. To work, we simply need flashlights on our helmets. In this photo I am preparing the handle of one device... "M3 Ammonia Connector".

9. Every time I look out the window and see our beautiful planet, my soul sings! I see blue skies, white clouds and a bright blessed day.

10. Another spectacular sunset. In Earth's orbit, we see 16 such sunsets every day, and each of them is truly valuable. This beautiful thin blue line is what makes our planet stand out from so many others. It's cold in space, and the Earth is an island of life in the vast dark sea of ​​space.

11. A beautiful atoll in the Pacific Ocean, photographed with a 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.

12. Beautiful reflection of sunlight in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. There are no borders visible from space... From there you can only see breathtaking views, such as the view of this island of Cyprus.

13. Over the center of the Atlantic Ocean, before another amazing sunset. Below, the spirals of Hurricane Earl are visible in the rays of the setting sun. An interesting look at the vital energy of our sun. The sun's rays on the port side of the station and on Hurricane Earl... these two objects are collecting the last bits of energy before plunging into darkness.

14. A little further east we saw the sacred monolith of Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock. I've never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but one day I hope to stand next to this natural wonder.

15. Morning over the Andes in South America. I don’t know for sure the name of this peak, but I was simply amazed by its magic, the peaks reaching towards the sun and winds.

16. Over the Sahara Desert, approaching ancient lands and thousands of years of history. The Nile River flows through Egypt past the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo. Further, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, as well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the horizon.

17. Night view of the Nile River, stretching like a snake through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo, located in the river delta. What a contrast between the dark, lifeless desert of northern Africa and the Nile River, on the banks of which life is in full swing. The Mediterranean Sea can be seen in the distance in this photo taken on a beautiful autumn evening.

18. Our unmanned 'Progress 39P' is approaching the ISS for refueling. It's full of food, fuel, spare parts and everything we need for our station. Inside was a real gift - fresh fruits and vegetables. What a miracle after three months of tube feeding!

20. Soyuz 23C Olympus module docked on the nadir side. When our work here is finished, we will return home to Earth. I thought you might be interested in seeing this spectacle through the Dome. We fly over the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus. The rising sun reflects from the Caspian Sea.

21. A flash of color, movement and life on the canvas of our wonderful world. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia, captured through a 1200mm lens. I think even the great impressionists would have been amazed by this natural painting.

22. All the beauty of Italy on a clear summer evening. You can see many beautiful islands decorating the coast - Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount Vesuvius stand out along the coast.

23. At the southern tip of South America lies the pearl of Patagonia. The stunning beauty of the rugged mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and open sea combines in amazing harmony. I dreamed about this place. I wonder what it would be like to breathe the air there. Real magic!

24. The “dome” on the nadir side of the station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fedor took this photo from the window of the Russian docking bay. In this photo I'm sitting in the canopy getting my camera ready for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.

25. The Greek Islands on a clear night during our flight over Europe. Athens shines brightly along the Mediterranean Sea. An unreal feeling arises when you see all the beauty of the ancient land from space.

26. Florida and southeastern USA in the evening. A clear autumn evening, moonlight over the water and a sky strewn with millions of stars.

27. Clear starry night over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Ancient lands with a thousand-year history stretch from Athens to Cairo. Historic lands, fabulous cities and tempting islands... Athens - Crete - Rhodes - Izmir - Ankara - Cyprus - Damascus - Beirut - Haifa - Amman - Tel Aviv - Jerusalem - Cairo - they all turned into tiny lights on this cool November night. These places seem to emanate grace and tranquility.

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Photos from space published on the websites of NASA and other space agencies often attract the attention of those who doubt their authenticity - critics find traces of editing, retouching or color manipulation in the images. This has been the case since the birth of the “moon conspiracy,” and now photographs taken not only by Americans, but also by Europeans, Japanese, and Indians have come under suspicion. Together with the N+1 portal, we are looking into why space images are processed at all and whether, despite this, they can be considered authentic.

In order to correctly assess the quality of space images that we see on the Internet, it is necessary to take into account two important factors. One of them is related to the nature of interaction between agencies and the general public, the other is dictated by physical laws.

Public relations

Space images are one of the most effective means of popularizing the work of research missions in near and deep space. However, not all footage is immediately available to the media.

Images received from space can be divided into three groups: “raw”, scientific and public. Raw, or original, files from spacecraft are sometimes available to everyone, and sometimes not. For example, images taken by the Mars rovers Curiosity and Opportunity or Saturn's moon Cassini are released in near real time, so anyone can see them at the same time as scientists studying Mars or Saturn. Raw photographs of the Earth from the ISS are uploaded to a separate NASA server. Astronauts flood them with thousands, and no one has time to pre-process them. The only thing that is added to them on Earth is a geographic reference to make searching easier.

Usually, public footage that is attached to press releases from NASA and other space agencies is criticized for retouching, because they are the ones that catch the eye of Internet users in the first place. And if you want, you can find a lot of things there. And color manipulation:

Photo of the landing platform of the Spirit rover in visible light and capturing near-infrared light.
(c) NASA/JPL/Cornell

And overlaying several images:

Earthrise over Compton Crater on the Moon.

And copy-paste:

Fragment of Blue Marble 2001
(c) NASA/Robert Simmon/MODIS/USGS EROS

And even direct retouching, with erasing some image fragments:

Highlighted shotApollo 17 GPN-2000-001137.
(c) NASA

NASA’s motivation in the case of all these manipulations is so simple that not everyone is ready to believe it: it’s more beautiful.

But it’s true, the bottomless blackness of space looks more impressive when it’s not interfered with by debris on the lens and charged particles on the film. A color frame is indeed more attractive than a black and white one. A panorama from photographs is better than individual frames. It is important that in the case of NASA it is almost always possible to find the original footage and compare one with the other. For example, the original version (AS17-134-20384) and the “printable” version (GPN-2000-001137) of this image from Apollo 17, which is cited as almost the main evidence of retouching of lunar photographs:

Comparison of frames AS17-134-20384 and GPN-2000-001137
(c) NASA

Or find the rover’s “selfie stick,” which “disappeared” when creating its self-portrait:

Curiosity images from January 14, 2015, Sol 868
(c) NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Physics of Digital Photography

Typically, those who criticize space agencies for manipulating color, using filters, or publishing black-and-white photographs “in this digital age” fail to consider the physical processes involved in producing digital images. They believe that if a smartphone or camera immediately produces color images, then a spacecraft should be even more capable of doing this, and they have no idea what complex operations are needed to immediately get a color image onto the screen.

Let us explain the theory of digital photography: the matrix of a digital camera is, in fact, a solar battery. There is light - there is current, no light - no current. Only the matrix is ​​not a single battery, but many small batteries - pixels, from each of which the current output is separately read. Optics focuses light onto a photomatrix, and electronics reads the intensity of energy released by each pixel. From the data obtained, an image is constructed in shades of gray - from zero current in the dark to maximum in the light, that is, the output is black and white. To make it color, you need to apply color filters. It turns out, oddly enough, that color filters are present in every smartphone and in every digital camera from the nearest store! (For some, this information is trivial, but, according to the author’s experience, for many it will be news.) In the case of conventional photographic equipment, alternating red, green and blue filters are used, which are alternately applied to individual pixels of the matrix - this is the so-called Bayer filter .

The Bayer filter consists of half green pixels, and red and blue each occupy one quarter of the area.
(c) Wikimedia

We repeat here: navigation cameras produce black and white images because such files weigh less, and also because color is simply not needed there. Scientific cameras allow us to extract more information about space than the human eye can perceive, and therefore they use a wider range of color filters:

Matrix and filter drum of the OSIRIS instrument on Rosetta
(c) MPS

Using a filter for near-infrared light, which is invisible to the eye, instead of red, resulted in Mars appearing red in many of the images that made it into the media. Not all of the explanations about the infrared range were reprinted, which gave rise to a separate discussion, which we also discussed in the material “What color is Mars.”

However, the Curiosity rover has a Bayer filter, which allows it to shoot in colors familiar to our eyes, although a separate set of color filters is also included with the camera.

(c) NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The use of individual filters is more convenient in terms of selecting the light ranges in which you want to look at the object. But if this object moves quickly, then its position changes in pictures in different ranges. In the Elektro-L footage, this was noticeable in the fast clouds, which managed to move in a matter of seconds while the satellite was changing the filter. On Mars, a similar thing happened when filming sunsets at the Spirit and Opportunity rover - they do not have a Bayer filter:

Sunset taken by Spirit on Sol 489. Overlay of images taken with 753,535 and 432 nanometer filters.
(c) NASA/JPL/Cornell

On Saturn, Cassini has similar difficulties:

Saturn's moons Titan (behind) and Rhea (front) in Cassini images
(c) NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

At the Lagrange point, DSCOVR faces the same situation:

Transit of the Moon across the Earth's disk in a DSCOVR image on July 16, 2015.
(c) NASA/NOAA

To get a beautiful photo from this shoot suitable for distribution in the media, you have to work in an image editor.

There is another physical factor that not everyone knows about - black and white photographs have higher resolution and clarity compared to color ones. These are so-called panchromatic images, which include all the light information entering the camera, without cutting off any parts of it with filters. Therefore, many “long-range” satellite cameras shoot only in panchrome, which for us means black and white footage. Such a LORRI camera is installed on New Horizons, and a NAC camera is installed on the LRO lunar satellite. Yes, in fact, all telescopes shoot in panchrome, unless special filters are used. (“NASA is hiding the true color of the Moon” is where it came from.)

A multispectral “color” camera, equipped with filters and having much lower resolution, can be attached to a panchromatic one. At the same time, its color photographs can be superimposed on panchromatic ones, as a result of which we obtain high-resolution color photographs.

Pluto in panchromatic and multispectral images from New Horizons
(c) NASA/JHU APL/Southwest Research Institute

This method is often used when photographing the Earth. If you know about this, you can see in some frames a typical halo that leaves a blurry color frame:

Composite image of the Earth from the WorldView-2 satellite
(c)DigitalGlobe

It was through this overlay that the very impressive frame of the Earth above the Moon was created, which is given above as an example of overlaying different images:

(c) NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Additional processing

Often you have to resort to the tools of graphic editors when you need to clean up a frame before publishing. Ideas about the perfection of space technology are not always justified, which is why debris on space cameras is common. For example, the MAHLI camera on the Curiosity rover is simply crap, there’s no other way to put it:

Photo of Curiosity by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on Sol 1401
(c) NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

A speck in the STEREO-B solar telescope gave rise to a separate myth about an alien space station constantly flying above the north pole of the Sun:

(c) NASA/GSFC/JHU APL

Even in space, it is not uncommon for charged particles to leave their traces on the matrix in the form of individual dots or stripes. The longer the shutter speed, the more traces remain; “snow” appears on the frames, which does not look very presentable in the media, so they also try to clear it off (read: “photoshop” it) before publication:

(c) NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Therefore, we can say: yes, NASA photoshops images from space. ESA photoshops. Roscosmos photoshops. ISRO photoshops. JAXA photoshops... Only the Zambian National Space Agency does not photoshop. So if someone is not satisfied with NASA images, then you can always use their space images without any signs of processing.