Thread

1. mmooss · 1790972229 · focus · HN ↗

   From ~0:04 - 0:05, two dots at ~10 and 8 o'clock fade in and out simultaneously, with roughly the size and brightness of the planets. They peak at observation ~2016-07-06. Any idea what they are?

   Their balanced position and simultaneous changes make them seem like an artifact of the imaging.

   1. hatthew · 1790978753 · focus · HN ↗

      It looks like they're only present for one real frame (of the original 10), so very possible that it's just noise in that frame.

      1. mmooss · 1790989814 · focus · HN ↗

         They're present for multiple dates at the bottom, and fade in and out. Are those dates and the fading fabricated as some sort of intermediate state and inserted into the animation? I did briefly look for something stating how the animation was made but didn't see anything.

         Also, they are too regular in position and in their timeing (simultaneous) to be random noise, but could be an artifact of some part of the imaging and processing chain.

         1. hatthew · 1790991212 · focus · HN ↗

            Yes, they were not very clear about this but my understanding is that there are only 10 real images, i.e. less than one per (earth) year. All other frames are interpolated, which can pretty accurately animate the positions of the planets, but is presumably completely inaccurate for anything else.

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