What's going on in this snapshot from the ISS?

[Zarhult]

I was watching the ISS live feed (from YouTube) and came across this strange look.

https://gyazo.com/c5a09c7af0412c4c361fa0549b03a29d

Does anyone know what would cause this in the live feed?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Are you referring to the blurry grey band across the earth?

 

[Zarhult]

Are you referring to the blurry grey band across the earth?

Yeah. I don't see how a camera error could make something like that, especially since the band moved with the Earth as the livestream progressed, as if it were actually on the Earth.

 

[davenn]

Yeah. I don't see how a camera error could make something like that, especially since the band moved with the Earth as the livestream progressed, as if it were actually on the Earth.

most likely some sort of imaging artifact and it appeared to move with the Earth because of the constant changing angles of sunlight etc
is the video still available on youtube as a saved one for viewing at a later date ?

 

[Zarhult]

most likely some sort of imaging artifact and it appeared to move with the Earth because of the constant changing angles of sunlight etc
is the video still available on youtube as a saved one for viewing at a later date ?

Unfortunately, all I got of it was that screenshot. It was on the ISS livestream, so as far as I know, it hasn't been saved anywhere. What do you mean by imaging artifact?

 

[davenn]

What do you mean by imaging artifact?

a common occurrence often caused by my previously mentioned reasons ... we all know there is no big grey circular band over any part of the earth
so it can only be there because of the effects of changing light and shadows within the camera system or by the rendering of the digital data as received and displayed
Those things are what are termed artifacts

Dave

 

[Zarhult]

a common occurrence often caused by my previously mentioned reasons ... we all know there is no big grey circular band over any part of the earth
so it can only be there because of the effects of changing light and shadows within the camera system or by the rendering of the digital data as received and displayed
Those things are what are termed artifacts

Dave

Alright, thanks. Don't know much at all about optics, haha.

 

[1oldman2]

Unfortunately, all I got of it was that screenshot. It was on the ISS livestream, so as far as I know, it hasn't been saved anywhere. What do you mean by imaging artifact?

I usually have http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream open on my browser and watch regularly. They maintain a video file that is searchable but you need to know date/time to find a particular segment. In the social feed there is a group of regulars who are very knowledgeable about artifacts, events etc. I will show the link and see what they say. By the way It's an interesting feed just don't mention UFO's or flat earth. also http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload/theater is the HD view.

 

[Zarhult]

I usually have http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream open on my browser and watch regularly. They maintain a video file that is searchable but you need to know date/time to find a particular segment. In the social feed there is a group of regulars who are very knowledgeable about artifacts, events etc. I will show the link and see what they say. By the way It's an interesting feed just don't mention UFO's or flat earth. also http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload/theater is the HD view.

Haha, I'm not one of those "flat Earth" morons. Thanks for looking into it.

 

[1oldman2]

Haha, I'm not one of those "flat Earth" morons. Thanks for looking into it.

Can you post the link you took the screen shot from?

 

[1oldman2]

Can you post the link you took the screen shot from?

Also are you the one who the took screen shot from video or did someone else post the still?

 

[1oldman2]

Also are you the one who the took screen shot from video or did someone else post the still?

The general consensuses from a couple people who are very knowledgeable about artifacts etc. is it's a photoshop job definitely older in fact more than 6 weeks which means it won't be in archives on the site. We need more info and details on this. it is mentioned that if you make the image smaller you can see it's not a simple screen shot, also there is a shadow issue.

 

[Zarhult]

The general consensuses from a couple people who are very knowledgeable about artifacts etc. is it's a photoshop job definitely older in fact more than 6 weeks which means it won't be in archives on the site. We need more info and details on this. it is mentioned that if you make the image smaller you can see it's not a simple screen shot, also there is a shadow issue.

I did, indeed, take the screen shot myself. I saw the strange gray section on the Earth as it rotated, as if it was actually a part of the planet. Perhaps it was something wrong with my receiving of the image?

 

[1oldman2]

Okay, here is a couple comparison images The darker ones seem to show the band above the clouds, Whats every ones opinion?
http://imgur.com/9en4DxA
http://imgur.com/a/UCjKe

 

[1oldman2]

I did, indeed, take the screen shot myself. I saw the strange gray section on the Earth as it rotated, as if it was actually a part of the planet. Perhaps it was something wrong with my receiving of the image?

Is it possible someone messed with the video before you took your screen shot? The geometry of the smudged area is rather blocky compared to what one would see if it was following the rotation of earth. It is very very common for people to "shop" ISS views and post them in fact just mentioning you tube or similar sites will be met with a "show me" attitude. There are lots of "conspiracy" videos related to ISS. The real deal is far better than anything that gets "shopped" and posted.

 

[davenn]

Is it possible someone messed with the video before you took your screen shot?

The OP said he was watching a live feed

 

[Zarhult]

Yeah, it was in the unedited live stream. I don't really have any way to prove this, but I certainly didn't photoshop it or anything just to post it here in an attempt to confuse people.

 

[1oldman2]

Yeah, it was in the unedited live stream. I don't really have any way to prove this, but I certainly didn't photoshop it or anything just to post it here in an attempt to confuse people.

I'm not saying you did anything other than post a question and a screen shot, just going over possible answers to your post. The first thing to consider is when did you take the screen shot, the second is that you tube doesn't live stream video of ISS and the watermarks are from a 3rd party site. While I know of several 3rd party sites that carry ustreams video and occasionally even their social stream they are all (including NASA's channels) plainly stamped as ustream. I believe with the exception of Harmonic's UHD 4K feed ustream is NASA's only partner, (I could be wrong but that is my understanding). My main point in this is, there is a difference between live (stream) and live (feed). Since you were watching "you tube" the video you took the screen shot from was recorded and not very recently judging by the Russian hardware in the view. This leaves plenty of opportunity for 3rd party manipulation. A quick you tube search of ISS will show you how popular the site is with UFO and flat Earth fools, plenty of footage of the "mother ship" etc. If you would like to see what really goes on in real time I recommend opening a tab with the "Live_stream" link I posted earlier in this thread. You should be aware there is a roughly 45 second delay before the video gets to you from the ISS so nobody gets (real time) video but ustream is as close as your going to get. Also there isn't much to see while ISS is on the night side of Earth (about 45 minutes per orbit) with the exception of on Live_stream the exposed cameras really light up while passing through the SAA zone, The HD sites cameras have much better shielding and rarely show any effect from this. Anyone who is interested in ISS will enjoy spending time watching these feeds, a quick note Live_stream is a channel NASA uses for maintenance, ROBO-OP's etc, it has views from I believe about 15 to 18 exterior cams that have pan and zoom capabilities. It is where most enthusiasts hang out in the social feed exchanging info, links and such, the regulars are very helpful and friendly as long as you stick with what's real but if you go into conspiracy/fringe speculation you will be ignored at best. One more note if a person wants to talk on the social feed I would recommend not linking an account to a site like like facebook etc. as you will occasionally come across some very invasive trolls, They are on a "starve a troll" diet and can be rather obnoxious before the "ban hammer" takes them out.
As a closing thought it was never intended in my posts to insinuate you were trying to pass off a whacko video, that was pretty obvious and this would be the worst possible site I can think of along with maybe the Live_stream feed itself to do that.

 

[Zarhult]

I'm not saying you did anything other than post a question and a screen shot, just going over possible answers to your post. The first thing to consider is when did you take the screen shot, the second is that you tube doesn't live stream video of ISS and the watermarks are from a 3rd party site. While I know of several 3rd party sites that carry ustreams video and occasionally even their social stream they are all (including NASA's channels) plainly stamped as ustream. I believe with the exception of Harmonic's UHD 4K feed ustream is NASA's only partner, (I could be wrong but that is my understanding). My main point in this is, there is a difference between live (stream) and live (feed). Since you were watching "you tube" the video you took the screen shot from was recorded and not very recently judging by the Russian hardware in the view. This leaves plenty of opportunity for 3rd party manipulation. A quick you tube search of ISS will show you how popular the site is with UFO and flat Earth fools, plenty of footage of the "mother ship" etc. If you would like to see what really goes on in real time I recommend opening a tab with the "Live_stream" link I posted earlier in this thread. You should be aware there is a roughly 45 second delay before the video gets to you from the ISS so nobody gets (real time) video but ustream is as close as your going to get. Also there isn't much to see while ISS is on the night side of Earth (about 45 minutes per orbit) with the exception of on Live_stream the exposed cameras really light up while passing through the SAA zone, The HD sites cameras have much better shielding and rarely show any effect from this. Anyone who is interested in ISS will enjoy spending time watching these feeds, a quick note Live_stream is a channel NASA uses for maintenance, ROBO-OP's etc, it has views from I believe about 15 to 18 exterior cams that have pan and zoom capabilities. It is where most enthusiasts hang out in the social feed exchanging info, links and such, the regulars are very helpful and friendly as long as you stick with what's real but if you go into conspiracy/fringe speculation you will be ignored at best. One more note if a person wants to talk on the social feed I would recommend not linking an account to a site like like facebook etc. as you will occasionally come across some very invasive trolls, They are on a "starve a troll" diet and can be rather obnoxious before the "ban hammer" takes them out.
As a closing thought it was never intended in my posts to insinuate you were trying to pass off a whacko video, that was pretty obvious and this would be the worst possible site I can think of along with maybe the Live_stream feed itself to do that.

Wait, so this is pre-recored?

 

[davenn]

I can't confirm or deny if youtube does live streams
Im pretty sure they don't and you need to go direct to NASA, ESA etc to get the live streams

Wait, so this is pre-recorded?

it would appear so, the guy that has that youtube site even comments about his latest uploadsDave

 

[1oldman2]

Wait, so this is pre-recored?

Without a doubt it is pre-recorded, Davenn has it right to the best of my knowledge. As I was saying if you would like to see what really goes on with ISS, create an account on the Live_stream site but make sure it's ustream your looking at and not a 3rd party site. Either use the same name as you have on this site or let me know what you choose so I will recognize you, I will introduce you to a few people That can give you more real information than you can use. If you choose to do this remember my advice about not linking to facebook etc. You will see many cool things going on and everyone of them can be very well explained as you will find, but you won't see any alien ships or the edge of the earth. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream

 

[Zarhult]

Without a doubt it is pre-recorded, Davenn has it right to the best of my knowledge. As I was saying if you would like to see what really goes on with ISS, create an account on the Live_stream site but make sure it's ustream your looking at and not a 3rd party site. Either use the same name as you have on this site or let me know what you choose so I will recognize you, I will introduce you to a few people That can give you more real information than you can use. If you choose to do this remember my advice about not linking to facebook etc. You will see many cool things going on and everyone of them can be very well explained as you will find, but you won't see any alien ships or the edge of the earth. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream

Alright, thanks. Another thing I've found that confuses me is this view from NASA's DSCOVR satellite:

It's obvious why the moon does not cast a shadow on the Earth, and NASA explained that the green lines to the side of the moon are caused by how they process the colors of the images, but I'm pretty confused why the moon doesn't ever change its orientation in this. Here's the NASA article on it: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddar...nasa-camera-shows-moon-crossing-face-of-earth

Since the moon is tidal locked, shouldn't it be rotating in the slideshow to keep itself facing the Earth?

(I'm asking this since this is the only claim I've stumbled upon from one of the conspiracy theorists that I can't debunk myself)

 

[fizzy]

What length of time does that transit represent? Work out how many degrees the moon would rotate in that time. One rotation = 1 revolution = 27.2 days.

 

[Zarhult]

What length of time does that transit represent? Work out how many degrees the moon would rotate in that time. One rotation = 1 revolution = 27.2 days.

The photos were taken between 3:50 and 8:45, a length of 4 hours and 55 minutes, so it would seem to make sense it didn't rotate much. In that time period, the moon would undergo about 0.0076 rotations. But judging by the pictures alone, shouldn't the moon be facing towards the center of the Earth in each photo, giving it some visible rotation? Is it a matter of perspective because of the distance of the satellite?

 

[fizzy]

2.5 deg is small but maybe you could do a screen shot from earliest and latest position and overlay them. You may just find the features shift perceptibly near the lunar equator.

 

[fizzy]

The NASA image is a animated GIF. GIMP can handle that frame by frame. Here I took the first and last frame with the whole moon in shot and cropped out the moon. I then saved it as a two frame animation with a 0.5s delay. If it displays correctly you should be able to see the change in lunar position.

 

[Zarhult]

2.5 deg is small but maybe you could do a screen shot from earliest and latest position and overlay them. You may just find the features shift perceptibly near the lunar equator.

Ah, alright, after thinking it through it makes sense. The distance from the Earth to the moon is about 62.5 times the radius of the Earth; taking the angles into consideration, it makes sense that from the DSCOVR satellite, the portion of the moon's orbit during which the moon appears to be in front of the Earth would only be a very, very small fraction of the total orbit of the moon, such that it's almost as if the moon doesn't rotate at all. Thanks for putting in the work to make that GIF to help visualize the small bit of rotation that does occur!

 

[fizzy]

OO-err, what's that black spot getting bigger on the dark side of the moon, that's going cause some fun. I hadn't noticed that while I was doing the montage !

BTW the the dark line on the right is not the shadow of the moon on the Earth but probably that the satellite is not exactly between the moon and the sun , ie it's not a "full moon" from that perspective. Isn't DISCVR parked at L1 ?

 

[Zarhult]

OO-err, what's that black spot getting bigger on the dark side of the moon, that's going cause some fun. I hadn't noticed that while I was doing the montage !

BTW the the dark line on the right is not the shadow of the moon on the Earth but probably that the satellite is not exactly between the moon and the sun , ie it's not a "full moon" from that perspective. Isn't DISCVR parked at L1 ?

I haven't noticed a black spot getting bigger, but it could just be camera imperfections.
NASA explained in the article about it that the black/green line at the right is the result of how they merge differently colored images to create the normally colored one. It is indeed at L1.

 

[fizzy]

It's at about 10 o'clock in my two frame animation. Could be crater shadow changing with the rotation. Also more constasted white spots in first frame. Seems NASA image pastiche is not very consistent.

BTW if you want have a look yourself , just open in GIMP ( freeware all platforms ) , it will open the NASA gif as a bunch of individual frames in different layers or "calcs".