What A Full "Earthrise" Looks Like From The Moon

A stunningly smooth stabilization.

You may have seen this photo before. Taken in 1968, by an Apollo 8 astronaut, it is commonly referred to as "Earthrise."

From the moon's surface, the Earth doesn't technically "rise," since the same side of the moon always faces Earth. The view of Earth would not substantially change from any point on the moon's surface. This shot, and others like it, were taken from orbit — the "rise" comes from the trajectory of the spacecraft.

So, what happens when you stitch a whole series of Earthrise photos together?

Reddit user Notbrit produced this incredibly smooth animation from a collection of sequential shots. The motion, again, is caused by the changing perspective of the orbiter, not rotation of the Moon. But still: incredible. Here's the original animation, pre-stabilization:

Anyway, there you are. That's you! You and everyone you love and everyone you hate. Have a nice day.

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