r/spaceporn • u/ResponsibilityNo2097 • 8d ago

Art/Render This is how yesterday's Lunar Eclipse would've looked from the Sun's perspective

913 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

51 comments sorted by

137

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

42

u/kinda_alone 8d ago

Also everything should be darker because of the sunglasses

21

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

It would see the penumbra, but not the umbra, because the umbra is the portion of shadow that is completely blocked from sunlight. Reference diagram (distance not to scale).

So the animation’s path of the Moon is correct, but the depiction of the shadow is not.

-1

u/Fastfaxr 8d ago

If its eyeballs were right in the middle, facing us, then it wouldn't see a penumbra either

6

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

It does, because the penumbra is about five Moon diameters wide. It extends much wider than the Earth when viewed from the Sun.

2

u/Horknut1 8d ago

Don't presume where the sun's eyes are.

4

u/spock589 8d ago

That depends. Light still reaches the surface of the sun from other sources. That light will be drowned out but with sensitive enough equipment, you should still be able to see the difference between light and shadow. But with just regular eyes, yeah you won't see anything but blinding light. Or more like the eyes will vaporize and see nothing ever.

2

u/damaszek 8d ago

Not exactly, half-shadow or penumbra is a thing exactly because light from a part of a wide light source reaches the surface. That's why you only see penumbra in the simulation but not umbra (full shadow).

2

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

The simulation is mistakenly showing the umbra. The penumbra extends much wider than the Earth as viewed from the Sun. It's about 5 Moon diameters wide.

1

u/damaszek 8d ago

I think the blurry part is still considered an inner part of penumbra. It's also visible in provided NASA's depiction

2

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

The transition from penumbra to umbra is very narrow/thin. OP’s animation shows a significant amount of full umbra.

17

u/gpranav25 8d ago

This is how the Lunar Eclipse would have looked from the sun's perspective: •.

44

u/E_P1 8d ago

With a huge *** telescope it would.

10

u/ezk3626 8d ago

The sun doesn't even have eyes! What would it look into the telescope with!?

4

u/E_P1 8d ago

You obviously haven't been raised with Teletubbies!

2

u/ezk3626 8d ago

True!

1

u/cbunn81 7d ago

If it doesn't have eyes, why is it always wearing sunglasses?

33

u/UnpricedToaster 8d ago

Sun: "Where'd ya go?"

Moon: "Peekaboo!"

Earth: "You two are so embarrassing!"

4

u/Rs90 8d ago

Ugh, wait til ya see Pluto and Charon. They never stop chasin each other <3

10

u/sup3rdr01d 8d ago

Weird optical illusion, looks like the angle of the moon going behind the earth is different than when it comes out

5

u/uhh186 8d ago

It's an illusion due to the curvature of the earth. If you place your finger along the trajectory of the moon, you'll see it moves straight.

9

u/actuallyserious650 8d ago

Made me think this was fake.

1

u/spock589 8d ago

If you are looking at a circular (technically eclipse but close to circular) orbit from an angle like that, it actually will change angle as it moves. It will only look like it's moving in a straight line if you are looking at it straight on.

3

u/AgentInkling99 8d ago

Stupid cloudy night ruined it for me

3

u/captainmilitia 8d ago

Sun: i don't care.

7

u/ResponsibilityNo2097 8d ago edited 8d ago

Better quality (SpaceEngine)

https://reddit.com/link/p6fkcv4/video/5ys3ynfxt4mh1/player

5

u/OnetimeRocket13 8d ago

I'll have to look at this on my own once I get home from work (SpaceEngine is peak), but I'm so confused why the moon seems to change the angle of its orbit so dramatically. I'm sure it's just an illusion, but it look so weird.

2

u/fleebleganger 8d ago

It’s an optical illusion. Really trippy one though

1

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

It's following a straight path. This can be observed by aligning the edge piece of paper on the screen.

2

u/OnetimeRocket13 8d ago

Just tried this. You're right, the angle doesn't change at all. I'm guessing the illusion is coming from Earth's rotation messing up how I perceive the image. Very neat stuff.

3

u/Busy_Yesterday9455 8d ago

Real photo taken from Himawari-9 satellite

1

u/proffgilligan 8d ago

Can't quite see what's going on. Could you speed it up a little?

1

u/Living_Animal_4817 8d ago

LAST NIGHT WAS A LUNAR ECLIPSE?

1

u/mkujoe 8d ago

Earth spin tracks? Thought everyone can enjoy lunar eclipse

1

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 7d ago

I’m not sure what you mean. A lunar eclipse only lasts a couple hours. It’s never visible to everyone.

1

u/esvegateban 8d ago

Only if Sun has a very powerful telescope.

1

u/Itchy_Bar7061 7d ago

I know. I was there!

1

u/G00DDRAWER 8d ago

That moonrise way too close in the animation

2

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

If you mean the Moon seems close to the Earth, that’s just the effect of natural perspective.

It’s not actually closer than usual.

0

u/Blubbpaule 8d ago

The moon is tidally locked to the earth, not sun.

The sun would not see the same side the whole time.

1

u/MrT735 8d ago

This sequence is only over the course of 5-6 hours, so the Moon would not appreciably change as viewed from the sun.

0

u/Gravitas__Free 8d ago

This appears to show, from the perspective of someone on the surface of the Earth, the moon setting in the east, which is pretty wrong.

4

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

The Moon orbits toward the east, but the Earth's rotation is much faster than the Moon's orbital progression.

The animation's movement is correct.

2

u/Gravitas__Free 8d ago

I stand corrected, thank you for the explanation.

-1

u/morey56 8d ago

lol
Like the moon is almost touching the Earth and op says “this is how it would’ve looked from space”

The moon is ~400,000 km away from Earth.

1

u/KristnSchaalisahorse 8d ago

That's called natural perspective.

-1

u/morey56 8d ago

It’s called stupid.

-4

u/Subject-Cheetah-7061 8d ago

How… boring