You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.Dismiss alert
Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: posts/2026/artemis_2_eclipse.md
+12-12Lines changed: 12 additions & 12 deletions
Display the source diff
Display the rich diff
Original file line number
Diff line number
Diff line change
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
1
1
---
2
2
blogpost: true
3
3
date: Apr 9 2026
4
-
author: Stuart Mumford, Shane Maloney, Albert Y. Shih
4
+
author: Stuart Mumford, Shane Maloney, Albert Y. Shih, Laura Hayes
5
5
category: Tutorial
6
6
tags: eclipse
7
7
---
8
8
9
9
# Artemis II Solar Eclipse
10
10
11
-
The Artemis II mission launched on the 1st April 2026; this launch date allowed the crew to observe a solar eclipse on the 6th April(EDT) / 7th April (UTC) after transiting the far side of the moon.
11
+
The Artemis II mission launched on the 1st April 2026; this launch date allowed the crew to observe a solar eclipse on the 6th April(EDT) / 7th April (UTC) after transiting the far side of the Moon.
We on the SunPy blog {ref}`rarely miss the opportunity <2024-04-03-eclipse>` to talk [about a solar eclipse](https://github.com/sunpy/solar-eclipse/).
21
21
So when we saw the stunning photos taken by the astronauts on Artemis II, we wanted to use SunPy to compare them to other photos of the solar corona.
22
-
I do highly recommend watching the recording of the eclipse <ahref="https://youtu.be/dS9qqzSF3mI?si=NFfli3b7f0tYoVDP&t=1683">on YouTube</a>; the reactions and descriptions of the astronauts are worth it.
22
+
We highly recommend watching the recording of the eclipse <ahref="https://youtu.be/dS9qqzSF3mI?si=NFfli3b7f0tYoVDP&t=1683">on YouTube</a>; the reactions and descriptions of the astronauts are worth it.
23
23
24
24
Amongst the many amazing photos downlinked during the mission was this image of the solar eclipse:
25
25
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Amongst the many amazing photos downlinked during the mission was this image of
30
30
Image credit NASA
31
31
```
32
32
33
-
This image is particularly good for comparing to other solar data because the limb of the moon is clearly visible, and there are stars and planets in the image we can use as references.
33
+
This image is particularly good for comparing to other solar observations because the limb of the Moon is clearly visible, and there are stars and planets in the image we can use as references.
34
34
These features will allow us to determine exactly where and at what angle the camera was pointing.
35
35
At the end of the post you will be able to see how we can overlay on this photo images taken by solar observing satellites.
36
36
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ To do this we perform the following steps:
41
41
42
42
1. Extract the time information from the metadata stored in the image.
43
43
1. Use the time information to lookup the exact position of Artemis II.
44
-
1. Fit the edge of the moon to identify the location of the center of the moon, and the size of the moon in the image.
44
+
1. Fit the edge of the moon to identify the location of the center of the Moon, and the size of the Moon in the image.
45
45
1. Use the three planets visible in the lower right of the image to identify the rotation angle.
46
46
1. Use the planets to fit the distortion of the lens.
Based on the determined center of the moon is and its radius in the image we can construct a coordinate system for the image.
101
+
Based on the determined center of the Moon and its radius in the image we can construct a coordinate system for the image.
102
102
103
103
```python
104
104
from astropy.coordinates import SkyCoord
@@ -125,9 +125,9 @@ Initial coordinate system fit to image, notice that the locations of the highlig
125
125
126
126
### Fitting Roll Angle
127
127
128
-
It's clear from the previous image that the image is rotated around the center of the moon.
128
+
It's clear from the previous image that the image is rotated around the center of the Moon.
129
129
We can solve for this rotation by using a peak finding algorithm to locate the planets in the image and comparing these positions to the planets coordinates extracted from JPL Horizons.
130
-
Doing this results in a {math}`-21.2^\circ` roll angle which we can add to our Maps metadata.
130
+
Doing this results in a {math}`-21.2^\circ` roll angle which we can add to our `Map` metadata.
131
131
132
132
```{figure} ./artemis2_images/figure_5.svg
133
133
:width: 100%
@@ -139,15 +139,15 @@ Image showing the expected positions of the planets and the detected (peaks) pos
139
139
### Fitting Lens Distortion
140
140
141
141
The final correction to apply to our fitted coordinate system is the distortion of the camera lens (a Nikkor AF 135mm f/2D DC).
142
-
This makes objects distant from the centre of the image appear even more distant than they should.
142
+
This makes objects distant from the center of the image appear even more distant than they should.
143
143
We can quantify exactly how much the image has been distorted through comparing the expected vs actual positions of Mars and Mercury (not Saturn as it is too close to the center of the image).
144
144
We add this distortion to our coordinate system and our planets now appear in the correct place.
145
145
146
146
```{figure} ./artemis2_images/figure_7.svg
147
147
:width: 100%
148
148
:alt: Coordinate system fit with additional correction for lens distortion, the expected positions of the planets now match the image.
149
149
150
-
Coordinate system fit to with additional correction for lens distortion.
150
+
Coordinate system fit with additional correction for lens distortion.
151
151
```
152
152
153
153
## Overplotting Coronagraph Images
@@ -160,9 +160,9 @@ We reproject (or re-grid) these images to the fitted coordinate system of the Ar
160
160
:width: 100%
161
161
:alt: The Artemis II solar eclipse photo with the positions of Mercury, Mars and Saturn highlighted, and coronagraph images from SOHO's LASCO instrument plotted over the disc of the moon.
162
162
163
-
The Artemis II solar eclipse photo with the positions of Mercury, Mars and Saturn highlighted, and coronagraph images from SOHO's LASCO instrument plotted over the disc of the moon.
163
+
The Artemis II solar eclipse photo with the positions of Mercury, Mars and Saturn highlighted, and coronagraph images from SOHO's LASCO instrument plotted over the disc of the Moon.
164
164
```
165
165
166
166
We hope you have found this post interesting.
167
167
The full code for this post can be found in {ref}`The sunpy Gallery <>`.
168
-
Remember, that if you are lucky enough to observe the total solar eclipse which will be visible from parts of Europe in August 2026 and you take a photo, you can try this type of analysis with your own photos, by following our {ref}`previous blog post <2024-04-03-eclipse>`!
168
+
Remember, that if you are lucky enough to observe the total solar eclipse which will be visible from parts of Europe on 12th August 2026 and you take a photo, you can try this type of analysis with your own photos, by following our {ref}`previous blog post <2024-04-03-eclipse>`!
0 commit comments