GeekwithEnvy

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Painting or Photograph?

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Camel thorn trees-Namibia (Frans Lanting/National Geographic)
Tinted orange by the morning sun, a soaring dune is the backdrop for the hulks of camel thorn trees in Namib-Naukluft Park. (Frans Lanting/National Geographic)

Despite the way this image looks, it is indeed a photograph. This is a picture of Camel Thorn trees in Namibia which was taken by Frans Lanting for National Geographic. The backdrop is actually a large dune and the spots are small patches of grass.

This stunning photograph caused a lot of controversy when it was first printed as many people did indeed believe it was a painting. This photo was featured in a an article written by Alexandra Fuller for National Geographic back in June of 2011.

You may have the same trouble I initially did trying to see the picture for what it is, a real photograph, but if you look at some of the changes in color that occur on the sand dune and the shadows that the patches of grass produce, then you may finally see past the “painting”.

Frog Meets Rocket Launch

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LADEEFrog

Photographer Chris Perry has captured an amazing photo of the launch of NASA’s LADEE spaceship, but it was photobombed by a highflying frog making this image likely to be remembered for some time. Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely that the frog survived it’s flight through the air as it was probably directly below the launch area.

The LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) spacecraft successfully launched from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 6th and it’s 100-day mission is to orbit around the Moon’s equator and study the lunar exosphere and surrounding dust.

If you would like to follow up on the mission status of the LADEE spacecraft you can head over to NASA’s mission page.

Earth and Moon As Seen From Saturn

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EarthFromSaturn
Earth as seen From Saturn, PhotoTaken by Cassini on July 19th 2013. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

It’s not too often that we see our world from afar but when we do it’s truly an amazing and humbling experience. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft was able to get into position next to the great planet of Saturn and take a look back at Earth from 900 million miles away. The image is in color and in high resolution, Earth is nothing but a blue dot with a small white dot next to it, that white dot is the Moon of course. Saturn’s rings reflect sunlight towards the camera and against the black backdrop of outer space, it looks truly beautiful.

Cassini’s picture reminds us how tiny our home planet is in the vastness of space, and also testifies to the ingenuity of the citizens of this tiny planet to send a robotic spacecraft so far away from home to study Saturn and take a look-back photo of Earth.” Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

As NASA points out, pictures like these are very rare because Earth appears very close to the sun at that distance and trying to take a picture could ruin the camera’s sensitive electronics with that much sunlight hitting it. This is just one section of an image that will become a mosaic of Saturn’s rings. You can read the original article and see a full-resolution version of this image from NASA.

 

Tornado Path Seen From Space

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OKTornadoSpace
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The devastating E-F5 tornado that struck central Oklahoma on May 20th 2013 caused 2 billion dollars in damage and has taken up to 24 lives. This powerful storm has left a scar on the Earth’s surface that can easily be identified in this image from far above the Earth.

The photo was taken using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra spacecraft. This is a false-color image that clearly shows the path of the powerful tornado that lasted nearly 40 minutes as it continued to move along for 17 miles.

You can see a larger view of the image with it’s caption from NASA.