<p>Looks like an inferior mirage to me.</p>

<p>This:</p>

<p><a href="https://aty.sdsu.edu/explain/simulations/inf-mir/Kaplan_photos.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://aty.sdsu.edu/explain/simulations/inf-mir/Kaplan_photos.html</a></p>

<p>Has a work through for the disk of the sun but I think the same general principles apply here as well.</p>

<p>The specific effect will be somewhat different since in the image from space rays are moving from space down into and through the atmosphere, and then back up again, whereas in the image below the rays terminate at the Earth's surface.</p>

<hr>

<p>Simulation and photograph from Andrew T. Young's page <a href="https://aty.sdsu.edu/explain/simulations/inf-mir/Kaplan_photos.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Photographs of an Inferior-Mirage Sunset</a>: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The inferior mirage is very clearly shown in a series of sunset images taken by George Kaplan, of the U. S. Naval Observatory. Here, I describe what's seen in these images, which are actually on the <a href="https://aa.usno.navy.mil/index.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Naval Observatory's website</a>. They are such a “textbook example” of the inferior-mirage sunset that I begged for some details, and permission to show the images here.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/wce4V.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/wce4V.gif" alt=" from Andrew T. Young&#39;s page Photographs of an Inferior-Mirage Sunset"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jpDKn.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jpDKn.jpg" alt="sunset images taken by George Kaplan, of the U. S. Naval Observatory"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-16T21:26:30.867Z
Excellent find! Since links rot and break over time, so I've pulled in a few images and credited both Andrew Young's work and the photos by George Kaplan, of the U. S. Naval Observatory.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-16T12:22:59.853Z
2019-05-16T22:36:22.317Z
2019-05-16T22:36:22.317Z
ANone
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himawari_8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Himawari-8</a> geostationary weather satellite recently had a lunar intrusion into it's primary sensor (the Advance Himawari Imager, or AHI):<br>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CYUlg.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CYUlg.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Zooming in on the moon:<br>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/6UxSh.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6UxSh.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
I see a strange cupping (or 'peeling') of the moon away from the horizon: 
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/PnItr.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PnItr.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>My question is: what is the explanation for this 'peeling' aberration?</p>

<p>Note: if your answer involves the lunar terminator, please account for the following concerns:</p>

<ol>
<li>At the time of day of the photograph, we see the Earth with ~5 degrees of longitude in night. The Earth presents approximately 17 degrees across from GEO, so the moon is <span class="math-container">$17^{\circ}/2=8.5^{\circ}$</span> degrees away from nadir, and so I expect the moon to have <span class="math-container">$5^{\circ}+8.5^{\circ}= 13.5^{\circ}$</span> of longitude in night. With barely half the moon peaking out above the Earth's horizon, the terminator is well behind the Earth.</li>
<li>The cupping aberration appears equal on both edges. The Sun is in the top right corner of the picture, and so I would expect a terminator related effect 
to be more pronounced on the bottom of the moon than the top.</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-15T23:30:02.607Z
Why would this include the terminator? This strongly looks like atmospheric refraction. You see similar effects during the Sun-Venus transit, just before Venus enters the solar disc, due to the atmosphere of Venus.
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-16T03:52:06.327Z
It looks like this phenomenon: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/07/deflated-supermoon/#.XNzaTd-YVrk , http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/12/the-moon-is-flat/#.XNzawt-YVrk , http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/21/squishy-moonrise-seen-from-space/#.XNza_d-YVrk but more extreme (due to the greater distance of  Himawari-8 vs ISS? - I haven't done the math). Note that the part of Mare Imbrium closest to the limb looks cut off and replaced with a bright area. That could be a squished image of the the part of the moon below the horizon.
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-16T07:06:05.827Z
slightly related only [Refraction by Saturn's atmosphere - how dense is it here?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/16703/7982) Can you please add a link to the original Himawari image so that it can be verified that it is real? There have been questions about images in the past that turned out to be not real. Thanks!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-16T07:16:10.363Z
Actually I can verify it. I went to https://himawari8.nict.go.jp/ and set the time to `2019-05-15 08:00:00` (it's local time and I am in UTC +8) and there it is, cool! :-) https://i.sstatic.net/PAJPO.jpg
uhoh
<the-moon><photography>
Why does the moon 'peel' away from the horizon in this photograph?
cms
# Why does the moon 'peel' away from the horizon in this photograph?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-15)

The [Himawari-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himawari_8) geostationary weather satellite recently had a lunar intrusion into it's primary sensor (the Advance Himawari Imager, or AHI):  
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/CYUlg.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/CYUlg.png)

Zooming in on the moon:  
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/6UxSh.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/6UxSh.jpg)
I see a strange cupping (or 'peeling') of the moon away from the horizon:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/PnItr.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/PnItr.png)

My question is: what is the explanation for this 'peeling' aberration?

Note: if your answer involves the lunar terminator, please account for the following concerns:

1. At the time of day of the photograph, we see the Earth with ~5 degrees of longitude in night. The Earth presents approximately 17 degrees across from GEO, so the moon is $17^{\circ}/2=8.5^{\circ}$ degrees away from nadir, and so I expect the moon to have $5^{\circ}+8.5^{\circ}= 13.5^{\circ}$ of longitude in night. With barely half the moon peaking out above the Earth's horizon, the terminator is well behind the Earth.
2. The cupping aberration appears equal on both edges. The Sun is in the top right corner of the picture, and so I would expect a terminator related effect
   to be more pronounced on the bottom of the moon than the top.

**Tags:** the-moon, photography

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Why would this include the terminator? This strongly looks like atmospheric refraction. You see similar effects during the Sun-Venus transit, just before Venus enters the solar disc, due to the atmosphere of Venus.  
> **username_2**: It looks like this phenomenon: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/07/deflated-supermoon/#.XNzaTd-YVrk , http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/12/the-moon-is-flat/#.XNzawt-YVrk , http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/21/squishy-moonrise-seen-from-space/#.XNza_d-YVrk but more extreme (due to the greater distance of  Himawari-8 vs ISS? - I haven't done the math). Note that the part of Mare Imbrium closest to the limb looks cut off and replaced with a bright area. That could be a squished image of the the part of the moon below the horizon.  
> **username_3**: slightly related only [Refraction by Saturn's atmosphere - how dense is it here?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/16703/7982) Can you please add a link to the original Himawari image so that it can be verified that it is real? There have been questions about images in the past that turned out to be not real. Thanks!  
> **username_3**: Actually I can verify it. I went to https://himawari8.nict.go.jp/ and set the time to `2019-05-15 08:00:00` (it's local time and I am in UTC +8) and there it is, cool! :-) https://i.sstatic.net/PAJPO.jpg  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-05-16. Score: 2

Looks like an inferior mirage to me.

This:

<https://aty.sdsu.edu/explain/simulations/inf-mir/Kaplan_photos.html>

Has a work through for the disk of the sun but I think the same general principles apply here as well.

The specific effect will be somewhat different since in the image from space rays are moving from space down into and through the atmosphere, and then back up again, whereas in the image below the rays terminate at the Earth's surface.

---

Simulation and photograph from Andrew T. Young's page [Photographs of an Inferior-Mirage Sunset](https://aty.sdsu.edu/explain/simulations/inf-mir/Kaplan_photos.html):

> The inferior mirage is very clearly shown in a series of sunset images taken by George Kaplan, of the U. S. Naval Observatory. Here, I describe what's seen in these images, which are actually on the [Naval Observatory's website](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/index.php). They are such a “textbook example” of the inferior-mirage sunset that I begged for some details, and permission to show the images here.

[![ from Andrew T. Young's page Photographs of an Inferior-Mirage Sunset](https://i.sstatic.net/wce4V.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/wce4V.gif)

[![sunset images taken by George Kaplan, of the U. S. Naval Observatory](https://i.sstatic.net/jpDKn.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jpDKn.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Excellent find! Since links rot and break over time, so I've pulled in a few images and credited both Andrew Young's work and the photos by George Kaplan, of the U. S. Naval Observatory.  

---

