at night and with northern lights

The mission Artemis II It left on April 2 (peninsular time) after several delays and today, April 4, it is already closer to the Earth than to the Moon, according to the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website” (AROW)a tracker that allows the Orion ship to be followed in real time. And from there the astronaut team can do some fabulous photos of the universe with the iPhones they carry on board or with the cameras, a pair of Nikon D5, as can be read in NASA inventory.

and go if they are doing them. Below these lines we see an image of the Earth taken by NASA astronaut and commander of the Artemis II mission, Reid Wiseman, from one of the four windows principals of Orion. The typical image that we usually take when we go on vacation and take a photo from the plane or train window, but on another level. At an interstellar level.

Artemis II looking back at Earth. POT

But to see the Earth in all its splendor, it is better to take a look at the latest thing that NASA has shared: under the title of “Hello World“, a classic of programming which in this scenario makes all the sense in the world, yesterday, April 3, NASA spread another photo of Reid Wiseman, which the space agency said he took after completing the translunar injection maneuver. Of course, light years from what the US agency has previously shared. And that you can see the outline of the window.

The Earth as we have never seen it before

We’ve seen many, many images of Earth from space, but this one is truly special if you look closely. One of the most impressive details of the image is that thanks to the angle and distance appreciate two auroras at the same time, the boreal and the southern.

Those green ribbons that line the perimeter of the Earth (top right and bottom left, respectively) are our atmosphere glowing as the magnetic shield deflects the solar wind. Just above both there is a very thin layer of orange color: it is the atmospheric luminescence or airglow and it is not caused by the solar wind, but by chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere that release the energy accumulated during the day.

But also at the bottom right you can see zodiacal light during Earth’s “solar eclipse”that diffuse, almost ghostly glow with an almost triangular shape that extends across the plane where the planets orbit. It is cosmic dust that shines by reflecting the light of the Sun and that can be seen thanks to the fact that, from the Orion spacecraft, there is no atmosphere to scatter the light or hide the most subtle details of the cosmos.

Earth from the perspective of Artemis II. POT

On the other hand, this photograph has another peculiarity: the majority of images that we see of the Earth from space are from the daytime side of the Earth, thus achieving a bright photograph of our planet in which the stars are barely visible due to the camera settings (low ISO, high shutter speed and/or closed aperture), but here the Sun is behind the Earth.

This means that the Orion crew is looking at the night side of the Earth. For photography lovers: NASA provides EXIF of the image, where an ISO of 51,200 and a long exposure can be seen, necessary to capture the light of cities and the auroras.

These are two of the first photographs sent by the Artemis II team, but NASA has a section of the website available where you can see all those who share.

In Xataka | NASA has published 96 fantastic posters of the universe that you can download for free in HD

In Xataka | NASA has just shared some impressive images of the Helix Nebula like we have never seen it before.

Cover | POT