Earthrise

This article is about the photograph of the Earth. For other uses, see Earthrise (disambiguation).

"Earthrise" taken on December 24, 1968.

The conversation between Frank Borman and William Anders, during the taking of the Earthrise photograph.

A simulation of what the Apollo 8 crew saw as the Earth rose above the lunar horizon during their fourth orbit around the Moon. Pauses to overlay two photos taken by the crew. Includes a clock overlay.

Earthrise is the name given to a photograph of the Earth taken by astronaut William Anders in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission. It has been called "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken."

Details

Earthrise is the name given to NASA image AS8-14-2383, taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission, the first manned voyage to orbit the Moon.

Initially, before Anders found a suitable 70mm color film, mission commander Frank Borman took a black-and-white photo of the scene, with the Earth's terminator touching the horizon. The land mass position and cloud patterns in this image are the same as those of the color Earthrise photo.

The photograph was taken from lunar orbit on December 24, 1968 with a Hasselblad camera. An audio recording of the event is available with transcription which allows the event to be followed closely – excerpt:

Borman: Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! Here's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty.
Anders: Hey, don't take that, it's not scheduled.
Borman: (laughing) You got a color film, Jim?
Anders: Hand me that roll of color quick, will you...

The TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, drawing upon the book A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin, has Borman uttering the "it's not scheduled" remark (in part four, "1968", at 41' 57"). However, the PBS attribution to Anders is clear from the sound recordings. In fact, had Borman as mission commander said such a thing, the color photograph likely would never have been made.

There were many images taken at that point. The mission audio tape establishes several photographs were taken, on Borman's orders, with the enthusiastic concurrence of Lovell and Anders. Anders took the first color shot, then Lovell who notes the setting (1/250th of a second at f/11), followed by Anders with another two at varying exposures.

The picture attested by Frank Borman is in nearly the same place with respect to the horizon as the one usually credited to Anders, but was probably taken on a different orbit — the cloud patterns are significantly different than the color Earthrise.

A nearly full-page black and white reproduction of Borman's image may be viewed on page 164 of his 1988 autobiography, captioned: "One of the most famous pictures in photographic history — taken after I grabbed the camera away from Bill Anders". Borman was the mission commander and notes (pg 212) that this is the image "the Postal Service used on a stamp, and few photographs have been more frequently reproduced" [but see above].

The stamp issue reproduces the cloud, color and crater patterns of the Anders picture. Anders is described (pg. 193) by Borman as holding "a Masters degree in nuclear engineering"; Anders was thus tasked as "the scientific crew member ... also performing the photography duties that would be so important to the Apollo crew who actually landed on the Moon".

Geometry

The as-published photograph shows Earth:

• Polar orientation: south to left, north to right (Antarctica at 10 o'clock).
• Equator: center, running westwards towards top right-hand corner.
• Winter season terminator crossing the African continent (lightish region to left is Namib Desert, Namibia; to right is Western Sahara/West Africa).
• Rotated clockwise approximately 135° from our typical North/South-Pole-oriented perspective.

Legacy

In Life's 100 Photographs that Changed the World, wilderness photographer Galen Rowell called Earthrise "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken." Another author called its appearance the beginning of the environmental movement.

Stamp

United States postage stamp Scott #1371

In 1969, the US Postal Service issued a stamp (Scott # 1371) commemorating the Apollo 8 flight around the Moon. The stamp featured a detail (in color) of the Earthrise photograph, and the words, "In the beginning God...", recalling the Apollo 8 Genesis reading.

Subsequent video

On April 6, 2008 (Japan Standard Time), the first 1080p high-definition Earthrise video was captured, both a full Earthrise and Earthset video, by the JAXA lunar orbiter mission, SELENE (better known in Japan by its nickname Kaguya). After successfully orbiting the Moon for 1 year and 8 months, it was intentionally crashed onto the lunar surface at 18:25 UTC on June 10, 2009

Potential earthrises as seen from the Moon's surface

An earthrise that might be witnessed from the surface of the Moon would be quite unlike sunrises on Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, one side of the Moon always faces toward Earth. Interpretation of this fact would lead one to believe that the Earth's position is fixed on the lunar sky and no earthrises can occur. However, the Moon librates slightly, which causes the Earth to draw a Lissajous figure on the sky. This figure fits inside a rectangle 15°48' wide and 13°20' high (in angular dimensions), while the angular diameter of the Earth as seen from Moon is only about 2°. This means that earthrises are visible near the edge of the Earth-observable surface of the Moon (about 20% of the surface). Since a full libration cycle takes about 27 days, earthrises are very slow, and it takes about 48 hours for Earth to clear its diameter. During the course of the month-long lunar orbit, an observer would additionally witness a succession of "Earth phases", much like the lunar phases seen from Earth. That is what accounts for the half-illuminated globe seen in the photograph.

See also

• Pale Blue Dot
• The Blue Marble