On the night of May 15-16, we were able to enjoy a spectacular lunar eclipse in most of the world. In Spain, we had to wait until dawn, while in other countries, such as Mexico, our satellite was painted the color of blood. But this is what we saw from Earth. Scientists Southwestern Research Institute (SwRI) they wondered what would happen if they saw lunar eclipse from space. And taking advantage of the fact that they had to look for scenes to calibrate their lucy asteroid probeThey thought this might be the perfect case.
The Lucy probe was launched into space in October 2021. Its goal for the next eleven years will be study Trojan asteroids which are close to Jupiter. But, as is usual with this type of mission, before it can operate at full capacity, calibrate tools. During the lunar eclipse, Lucy was about 100 million kilometers from our planet, in the perfect location to immortalize the show.
For this reason, the scientists who operate it from Earth have set to work to take pictures. For this they used Tool L’LORRY, Lucy’s most sensitive camera. Its sensitivity is such that design engineers affectionately call it the eagle eye. And it’s not less, it’s more to see the interesting images he took during this lunar eclipse.
Innovative images thanks to Lucy’s eagle eye
According to Project Lucy’s website, “the majority of L’LORRI’s optical system consists of silicon carbidewhich does not greatly expand or contract when colliding with temperature changesand also dissipates heat quickly to reduce these differences.” This is very efficient as it can operate despite the extreme temperatures the probe will encounter during its journey.
A time lapse was made with 86 exposures in one millisecond.
However, generally speaking, this tool is prepared to work preferably with low temperatures. After all, the main area of \u200b\u200bits work will be in the vicinity of Jupiter, very far from the Sun. The approach to the lunar eclipse was temperature rise which could be supported by silicon carbide, but not for too long. Therefore, the scientists of the project did not want to take risks and took pictures only first half of the eclipse.
At that time was time interval consists of 86 exposures of one millisecond. Eagle Eye is a panchromatic camera. That is, it only accepts black and white images. But even so, the result is the most interesting. After all, this is a very new point of view when it comes to depicting a lunar eclipse.
A very special lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, creating a shadow that partially or completely covers our satellite. From here, we can see the Moon darken and turn red because only orange waves reach us due to the refraction of sunlight by the Earth’s atmosphere. So, what would happen if all this was visible from the outside, without the presence of an observer in any of the three main characters of the eclipse?
This is what we were able to see thanks to Lucy. In the images taken by your eagle eye, you can see Moon to the right of the screen and Earth to the left. The Sun would be far to the left, so it goes out of plane, but you can see how it interferes with the formation of the Earth’s shadow that engulfs the Moon.
The image does not show the Sun, which would be far to the left of the scene.
Since satellite coverage would be very weak, astronauts they should have lit it on the video so you can see it clearly. Once this is done, you will be able to perfectly see how the moon disappears almost magically. But this is not magic, this is the shadow of our planet that takes possession of it. Later, if Lucy could continue watching the show, the end of the lunar eclipse could be seen and our satellite would reappear.
But it would be too much to ask. This in itself is a magnificent sight, an image never before seen, and above all, a wonderful calibration method to leave this Lucy tool ready to go. perpetuate the Trojan asteroids. It was more than a fruitful stop along the way.
Source: Hiper Textual
