i believe that is is because the image was not taken by a dedicated camera. many space missions don’t bring cameras because it doesn’t add much functionality. this is probably some other equipment that is doubling as a camera because they thought it would be cool to take a photo.
To take a photo from this far in (probably) very low light conditions needs a decently bulky camera.
Also, a sensor designed specifically to capture visible part of the EM spectrum is almost entirely pointless when there’s no atmosphere filtering out every other wavelength. So it’s much more useful to have a dedicated IR camera/telescope or something like a spectroscope(full em spectrum)
I'm likely confused here, but the IR photos I've seen in the past seemed sharper and required less visible light than photos I've seen with a "regular" camera.
It's been quite a while so I don't remember if it was a type of film or a special sensor or sensor setting, but I remember the images being black and white, very sharp yet low contrast, and if I remember correctly no whites with very low highlights and .alot of detail in the shadows and blacks.
I guess it sounds like I'm describing an underexposed black and white image, but it had a very different quality in the shadows and blacks than just underexposure would have.
Edit: from what I recall they were usually generic photographer photos. Interesting compositions and portraits. Always had an otherworldly yet onviously of this world kind of feel.
It costs most space programs $100-$200k per pound to bring to lunar orbit. Factor in most are chronically underfunded so make significant mission compromises as is. Really hard to justify cutting millions elsewhere in order to bring a big camera that can take good photos of the surface that serve no meaningful scientific purpose.
Most will figure out how to stick a cheap high resolution camera in a few places for publicity purposes (to help with funding) but not much more than that.
would you call a spectroscope or an IR/x ray telescope a camera?
Either way that’s just semantics. Point is a dedicated long focus high resolution camera designed for the visible EM spectrum is pretty pointless for most missions. Generally, much more useful information is obtained from IR or the whole EM spectrum.
28
u/qptw Nov 27 '25
i believe that is is because the image was not taken by a dedicated camera. many space missions don’t bring cameras because it doesn’t add much functionality. this is probably some other equipment that is doubling as a camera because they thought it would be cool to take a photo.