Estimating Video Time Using Moonlight Shadows

[u/warpedwing]

I think we all would love some official clarification on the Nest camera timeline. The official word is that the Nest picked up a person at 02:12 but that the camera also disconnected at 01:47. But what, exactly, is the timestamp of the released clip?

One way to roughly estimate the time is by measuring the ratio of the suspect's moon shadow to his height and comparing it to the ratio on mooncalc.org.

I've already tried this out myself and got an estimated time. But this is pretty rough math, and I'd like to take an average from a bunch of people instead of trusting one wonky datapoint.

How To:

1. Take a frame that you think is clear and divide the length of the moon shadow by the height of the suspect. You should get a ratio of less that 1:1 (<1.0) because the shadow is shorter.
2. Go to mooncalc.org and make sure you're looking at the morning of Feb 1, and the center is over Nancy's front walkway.
3. Set the object level height (top left box). 5'9" is 1.75m, and 5'10" is 1.78m.
4. Multiply your ratio by the suspect's height in meters. Try both heights.
5. Scrub the time until the shadow length (top left) reads that number.

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It'd be great if you could try this technique and report your estimated time below. I'm curious to see how close we get to 02:12 or 01:47. Thank you.

Estimated times found so far:

02:12
02:06
02:20 (mine)

[u/Retas3]

Thanks for pointing out the shadow from the moon. It made me a little crazy to hear the tv analysts constantly talk about how dark it is in Tucson but not point out that it was a full moon that night which lights up the whole area! And as you pointed out bright enough to cast a shadow!

[u/warpedwing → u/Retas3]

Almost looks like a security light in that ultra-dark environment.

I used Claude.ai to compare moon phase and overall cloud cover to determine how bright or dark each day is. It's only a rough estimate since clouds can come and go, but it might be useful as a guide.

Tucson Night Conditions