The Photographs of the Solar Eclipse and the Surface of the Moon Seen from the Artemis II Mission
A few hours ago, one of the iconic photographs from the Artemis II mission was released: it is the image called Earthset, which shows the Earth "setting" behind the Moon, echoing the famous photograph Earthrise from the Apollo 8 mission (from which the mascot Rise aboard Orion is also inspired). In just a few hours, NASA also disseminated other photographs from the Artemis II mission, as the astronauts are returning to our Planet aboard the Orion Integrity capsule.
Another striking photograph depicts the solar eclipse as seen by the astronauts of the space mission, with the Moon obscuring our star from their view. This has also allowed for photographs that can be used to study the solar corona. According to reports, the image shows the Moon completely eclipsing the Sun for a duration of almost 54 minutes.
The solar corona is shown as a luminous halo around the dark lunar disk. This allows details of the Sun's outer atmosphere, usually hidden by its brightness, to be observed. Some stars are also visible as well as planets: at the bottom left, Venus can be spotted, while at the bottom right are Mercury, Mars, and Saturn. This photograph was captured with a professional mirrorless camera Nikon Z 9 paired with a 35 mm f/2.0 lens, setting the aperture to maximum with an exposure time of 2 seconds and a sensitivity of 1600 ISO.
Other Images of the Moon Taken by Artemis II
Using a Nikon D5 with the 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, it was also possible to capture a view of the Sun beginning to appear behind the Moon at the end of the close passage by Orion Integrity. The image highlights the light of the star illuminating part of the scene with another part occupied by the natural satellite. In this case, the shooting settings were set to 220 mm focal length, aperture at f/5.3, exposure time of 1/100 second, and sensitivity of 6400 ISO.
Another photograph showcases the weak sunlight filtering from the lunar disk, highlighting the surface of the natural satellite. A bright spot (present in other photographs) can be seen on the left, which is again the planet Venus.
During the close approach to the Moon, the astronauts were assisted by the mission control center and the scientific division to locate significant sites for future missions. Naturally, various photographs were captured. The crew of Artemis II took the image visible below while near the surface, and the rings of the Oriental basin can be noted. This is one of the youngest and best-preserved large impact craters on the Moon.
The image contains (upper left) the craters, initially unnamed and now called Integrity and Carroll in honor of the Orion capsule and the late wife of Wiseman. The ability to have people observing the surface of the satellite is crucial as they can provide more details and a better response compared to purely instrumental observation. Once again, the pairing of the Nikon D5 with the 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens was used.
In two other photographs captured by the crew, a larger portion of the satellite's surface can be seen. The upper area is part of the visible side where the darker regions of ancient lava can be observed. The Oriental basin is the circular crater near the central area and features a black area bordered by large "mountains". To the northeast, there is another dark area: this is the Grimaldi crater, while the Aristarchus crater differentiates itself with its white coloration that stands out compared to the upper dark gray base.
Another spectacular image shows the Earth in the distance, illuminated only partially, while the Moon is at the bottom (shown not completely). This is a photograph taken by the crew of Artemis II 36 minutes before the Earth set behind our natural satellite. Our planet is in a waxing phase, with sunlight arriving from above. In this case, the Nikon D5 with the 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens was set with a focal length of 80 mm, aperture at f/8, exposure time of 1/1000 second, and sensitivity of 400 ISO.