A pair of US astrophotographers have gone viral after capturing what they describe as a "ridiculously detailed" image of the Moon.
The 174-megapixel image, which captures the Moon's craters, colours and textures in spectacular detail, was posted on social media.
Arizona-based Andrew McCarthy worked with planetary scientist and fellow space photographer Connor Matherne to create the image as a "collaborative tribute" to NASA's forthcoming Artemis mission.
The NASA mission is due to lift off from Cape Canaveral on August 29, the first uncrewed test of the Space Launch System super heavy-lift rocket capable of taking humans back to the Moon.
McCarthy and Matherne's latest project, which began last November, combines more than 200,000 individual shots into one image.
All of the photos were taken on a single evening, with the pair then spending nine months editing and compiling their work to make the finished product.
"The whole thing is assembled like a mosaic, and each tile is made up of thousands of photos," Mr McCarthy told NPR.
He explained that he while he took thousands of pictures revealing intricate details of the lunar surface, Mr Matherne focused on the Moon's colours.
Mr McCarthy told NPR that while only "basic" equipment – a camera, tripod and star tracker – was needed for their lunar photoshoot, the main requirement was patience to wait for perfect sky conditions, free from light pollution.
The first image of the Moon is thought to have been captured by French artist and inventor Louis Daguerre in January 1839.
Unfortunately that image along with many other "daguerreotypes" – an early form of photography – was destroyed in a fire two months later.
A year after that, American doctor and chemist John William Draper made his own daguerreotype of the moon, which remains the oldest surviving photographic image of the celestial body.
ABC
