Look at the moon with ‘superhuman vision’: An astrophotographer takes amazing photos of our moon with inverted colors to enhance the texture
- Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy snapped the incredible image this week
- He changed the image to highlight things that the human eye cannot see
- The incredible image was created by processing the image with an inverted brightness layer to enhance the moon texture
This mind-bending picture of the moon with inverted colors shows where it once flowed with magma – and what it would look like with ‘superhuman vision’.
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy, known as cosmic_background on Instagram, changed the image of the lunar surface to highlight things the human eye cannot see.
The incredible image was created by processing the image with an inverted brightness layer to enhance the moon texture.
This picture of the moon with inverted colors shows where it once flowed with magma – and what it would look like with ‘superhuman vision’.
Andrew says the brighter regions show where the moon once flowed with magma.
He said: ‘Our eyes are quite incredible, but sometimes it’s nice to see what things can look like with superhuman vision.
‘In this version, the colors show how the composition changes where the magma once flowed, as well as the impact that hits the surface, giving an extra color.
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy, known as cosmic_background on Instagram, changed the image of the lunar surface to highlight things the human eye cannot see
The incredible image was created by processing the image with an inverted brightness layer to enhance the moon texture
‘The colors are real and represent the hidden geological history of the moon.
“I feel like this picture shows the colors and features in a unique way that I have not seen before.”
Andrew is known for his beautiful astrophotography and recently took a ‘once in a blue moon shot’ of the International Space Station moving across the moon.
The rare recording of the station-oriented view ‘immediately became my favorite record’, McCarthy explained.
Andrew says the brighter regions show where the moon once flowed with magma
What made this image remarkable was the orientation of the ISS at the time it was taken and McCarthy’s ‘to the second’ precision to capture the orbit as it grazed on the moon over the Copernicus crater – before it has disappeared.
This lunar clapper is visible with binoculars slightly northwest of the center of the Moon’s Earth hemisphere.
The solar panels that usually lie flat on either side of the station are seen due to the spacewalk moving in different angles, which contributes to the uniqueness of the photo.
SCIENCES DO NOT AGREE ON HOW THE MOON WAS FORMED BUT VERY BELIEVE IT IS THE RESULT OF AN IMPACT BETWEEN EARTH AND ANOTHER PLANET
Many scientists believe that the moon formed after the earth was hit billions of years ago by a planet as large as Mars.
This is called the giant impact hypothesis.
The theory suggests that the moon is made up of debris left over from a collision between our planet and a body about 4.5 billion years ago.
The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, after the mythical Greek Titan, the mother of Selene, the goddess of the moon.
Many scientists believe that the moon formed after the earth was hit billions of years ago by a planet as large as Mars. This is called the giant impact hypothesis
But one mystery persisted, brought back by rocks from the moon by Apollo astronauts: Why do the moon and the earth look so much alike in their composition?
Various theories have emerged over the years to explain the similar fingerprints of the earth and the moon.
Perhaps the impact created a large cloud of debris that mixed thoroughly with the earth and later converged to form the moon.
Or Theia might have looked chemically like the young earth.
A third possibility is that the moon formed from Earth materials, rather than from Theia, although this would have been a very unusual impact.