Call me a fan of old school rock and roll but when I hear ‘dark side of the moon’ I think of Pink Floyd and a rather famous album cover.

This would be other meaning, the actual side of the moon that we ourselves never see from earth. If we’re being honest it actually isn’t dark, receiving plenty of sunlight, but let’s not piss on these scientists’ parade. Below from Huffington Post:

…the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) captured a series of test photos with its Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). From its lofty perch 1 million miles from Earth, EPIC looked on as the moon transited our planet:

It really does look like a teenager is mucking about on Photoshop for the first time but the above is a real gosh darn photo. If you’re wondering what that green hue around the moon is, it has to do with how EPIC takes photos:

EPIC takes a series of 10 images using different narrowband spectral filters — from ultraviolet to near infrared — to produce a variety of science products. The red, green and blue channel images are used in these color images.

Combining three images taken about 30 seconds apart as the moon moves produces a slight but noticeable camera artifact on the right side of the moon. Because the moon has moved in relation to the Earth between the time the first (red) and last (green) exposures were made, a thin green offset appears on the right side of the moon when the three exposures are combined. This natural lunar movement also produces a slight red and blue offset on the left side of the moon in these unaltered images.

Pretty interesting stuff, although if I was forced to choose between learning about the workings of the EPIC camera and listening to the band describe Syd Barrett lose his mind I know which one I’m choosing.

[source:huffingtonpost]