Two astrophotographers completed a monthslong project of compiling hundreds of thousands of pictures of the moon, forming what they call the “most ridiculously detailed” ever image of Earth’s nearest celestial body.
Andrew McCarthy and Connor Matherne posted the image on Instagram, announcing that they would be selling prints of it. The image shows the moon illuminated by a color palette much different than the simple white and gray seen by the naked eye and even most telescopes.
Two years ago, I teamed up with fellow astrophotographer and planetary scientist @MatherneConnor to capture the most ridiculously detailed moon image we could. Over the last few months we put our heads together again to come up with something even clearer. Behold: pic.twitter.com/SebeDRJx2h
— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) August 20, 2022
“The color in this image is real, but presented with increased saturation so it is easily visible to our eyes,” McCarthy wrote on Reddit, according to CBS News. “The reddish tones demonstrate areas rich in iron and feldspar, while the bluish areas are spots where the regolith is rich in titanium. Oxidization from influence from Earth’s atmosphere makes the colors appear like they do.”
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After meeting a few years ago through Instagram and Reddit, McCarthy and Matherne decided to combine their skills; McCarthy’s skills in detailed photography and Matherne’s skills in deep space photos, specializing in colors, McCarthy told NPR.
“When he and I put our heads together we were able to make something a little off brand for both of us, which is cool,” McCarthy told the outlet. “The whole thing is assembled like a mosaic, and each tile is made up of thousands of photos.”
All the pictures were taken in a single night from two vantage points. McCarthy took 200,000 photos from Arizona, focusing on the geographical details of the moon, while Matherne took 500 from Louisiana, focusing on color. Over the next several months, the two used photo editing software to combine all their images into a single one.
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Though the two don’t work for NASA, their lunar photo is meant to commemorate NASA’s upcoming Artemis I mission to the moon. To nail home the point, the duo have named their composite image “The Hunt for Artemis.”
