KAGUYA - mission to the Moon

[RVS]

The very first output :

[ElChristou]

They say this is a High definition shot! I was expecting better...
Anyway another nice example of why we need HDR...

[dirkpitt]

At least the resolution is "True HD(tm)" 1920x1080.
Anyway, yes there's a lot of noise obscuring the image (jpeg artifacts?) but you'll notice there're no stars visible due to exposure adjustment - "HDR" if you will.

[t00fri]

Is the Earth really THAT uniformly blue as seen from such a distance??

Bye Fridger

[ElChristou]

...Anyway, yes there's a lot of noise obscuring the image (jpeg artifacts?)...

Yep, seems a bad grab from my TV...

Is the Earth really THAT uniformly blue as seen from such a distance??

I was also wondering...

[Fenerit]

I believe yes. And more blue toward the black more far is the distance, untill the color similar at that on the bottom of the sea. Just the clouds are clear.

EDIT LATER:

This is the reason of why the aliens can't find we.

[Fenerit]

Just to attempt an explanation.
As for we on the shoreline the sea is more black at the high latitudes because the Sun's rays cast on diagonal rispect to the equator, from an observer in the space that rays cast on Earth with an obliquity which is pratically "perpendicular" (the observer see the Earth as disk), so they fade to black.

[Hungry4info]

It's a very nice image in my opinion. No idea as to weather or not Earth is THAT blue, but still. I also liked the MESSENGER Earth images during it's flyby a few years ago.

[buggs_moran]

They say this is a High definition shot! I was expecting better...
Anyway another nice example of why we need HDR...

Maybe they are waiting to release the "good" images. HD images of the Earth and the moon could have some commercial value...

[ajtribick]

Problem is that typical images from space are taken in filters designed to optimise science returns rather than provide "true colour" (and there's nothing wrong with that). Thus we may have an unrealistic expectation of the colouration.

Only people who really know are the Apollo astronauts. The famous Apollo 8 "Earth rise" image is quite blue, but I don't know what kind of camera was used for that.

[dirkpitt]

Update: Selene has snapped its first photos of the moon.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/20071009_kaguya_e.html

Note that these are low-res shots of the probe jettisoning its relay satellites.
No hi-res data yet.

[cartrite]

After some digging, I came up with this page which describes the different instruments on board. http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/equipment/lalt_e.htm
There isn't any details on the HDTV instrument's wavelength detectors so the color of the above image of earth is anyones guess. I suppose it depends on how the data was processed.
cartrite

[RVS]

http://www.jaxa.jp/topics/2007/11_e.html

[Hungry4info]

Wow. I especially like the video; it looks just like that to me in Celestia (without the realistic shadows of course).

[Reiko]

This is new wallpaper!

[dirkpitt]

Awesome, now if only they could turn on the probe's real imaging equipment soon...

[RVS]

Kaguya Image Gallery was opened.

[cartrite]

Kaguya Image Gallery was opened.

The 3d shots from the Terrain camera look promising.
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[RVS]

KAGUYA (SELENE) Observations with Laser Altimeter (LALT) and Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) Sounder Mode

[Hungry4info]

I'm going to guess it's a safe bet to say that this thread, and the MESSENGER thread have to do with astronomy. Any reason against moving them there?