Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Earth from OSIRIS-REx MapCam

Earth from OSIRIS-REx MapCam
Earth from OSIRIS-REx MapCam OSIRIS-REx flew past Earth on September 22, 2017 and took this photo shortly after. The Pacific Ocean covers nearly the entire visible globe. The Sun is nearly behind the spacecraft, and a bright area on the ocean near the center of the view is specular reflection from the watery surface. The image is a composite of three photos taken through infrared, green, and blue filters with exposure times of 1.5 milliseconds. The use of an infrared filter causes land that would appear green to appear red. "Icicles" at the top are caused by detector read-out register bleed-through, which occurs at the very short exposure times required for a close-up view of a bright planet. NASA / GSFC / UA / Björn Jónsson