Seán Doran

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBa-...

 Ambient Earth  is a 7.5-hour, real-time, 4K, remastered video of the orbital view from the International Space Station. The video "invites you to slow down and experience Earth in real time just as astronauts do." [kottke.org]

This is a full 1:1 scale render of Ramanathan Crater, processed directly from raw, uncompressed NASA HiRISE PDS source files (Float32 IMG). No aggressive smoothing, no lossy compression, and elevation data in real-time.

I have been working on visualizing the appearance of proposed space mirrors on the night skies. As the beam approaches it appears as a column of light emerging from the darkness. At the beam center of a 600 km high 54 m. mirror the reflection gives a light similar to that of 38 Full Moons, 9.5 Lux.

'Ambient Earth' Perspective is lost when the world speeds by. This ambitious 7.5hr 4k compilation, crafted over months of meticulous restoration, invites you to slow down and experience Earth in real time just as astronauts do. Butch Wilmore / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran youtu.be/alJMoaKpV_E

'Ambient Earth' Perspective is lost when the world speeds by. This ambitious 7.5hr 4k compilation, crafted over months of meticulous restoration, invites you to slow down and experience Earth in real time just as astronauts do. Butch Wilmore / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran youtu.be/alJMoaKpV_E

Celebrating Mars New Year, as the Red Planet begins another 687-Earth-day journey around the Sun. Featuring images from the surface and orbit, courtesy of China’s Tianwen-1—the first mission to successfully deploy a lander, rover and orbiter on Mars.

On 23 September, the European-Chinese SMILE mission was declared ready for science operations, after launching on 19 May and reaching its target orbit on 20 June. The mission will study how Earth responds to the charged particles carried by the solar wind.

The Sunset of September 27, 2026 was an epic spectacle whose intensity and beauty were memorable. The cloud ceiling had a wide opening toward the West that admitted Sunlight which underwent progressive color changes as it briefly in turn illuminated layers of otherwise invisible cloud textures.

Wow!

Mars has some spectacularly insanely huge features - towering volcanoes, deep valleys, vast deserts - but kneel down in the cinnamon-hued dust and you'll also see it has exquisitely beautiful smaller features on its surface too... Sept 14th Curiosity images credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

🌏🌌🛰️ The Shenzhou-23 crew, currently aboard China's orbiting Tiangong space station capture stunning footage of Earth!

The Tianwen-3, China's first Mars sample-return mission, is progressing smoothly, entering the prototype development phase with multiple technical breakthroughs and with scientific preparations underway simultaneously, said the mission's chief scientist on Sept 3.

Holy smokes Hurricane Lowell's eye is incredible.

An overhead view of the Viking 2 landing site, based on the surface photography and available maps of the sample field and various references. This was drawn with ink on a scratchboard sheet which had a printed gray dot screen on it, scraping away the ink for the lighter tones and highlights.

1/2 China has established a two-way high-speed laser link between Earth and the Moon, spanning over 400,000 km. With a 100 Mbps downlink, an 8K image could be transmitted in just ~12 seconds. 🌕

#Spirit #MARS Exploration Rover-A Chapter 7: Larry's Lookout and Paso Robles Sol 391-437 Feb 2005 Left Pancam 21x Filter 4-5-6 www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERA/sol... NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / j. Roger

'Curvature of Earth' 200 photographs by Chris Williams on ISS Expedition 74 are cropped, resized, repaired, remastered & retimed to create this video of vertical cloud stacks looming over the limb of Earth, with music by Chris Zabriskie. 03m52s 4k60 youtu.be/3M82_OjSgiM

'Curvature of Earth' 200 photographs by Chris Williams on ISS Expedition 74 are cropped, resized, repaired, remastered & retimed to create this video of vertical cloud stacks looming over the limb of Earth, with music by Chris Zabriskie. 03m52s 4k60 youtu.be/3M82_OjSgiM

My portrayal of the Partial Lunar Eclipse of August 27-28, 2026. These were painted in Photoshop based on my observations through a 10 inch telescope and binoculars. Among the variable clouds I saw just enough of the event to get the observation I wanted, a look at the colors in the Earth shadow.

'Curvature of Earth' 200 photographs by Chris Williams on ISS Expedition 74 are cropped, resized, repaired, remastered & retimed to create this video of vertical cloud stacks looming over the limb of Earth, with music by Chris Zabriskie. Credit: Chris Williams / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran

On this date, August 23 1966, The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft obtained this first view of Earth from Lunar orbit. On the left is my treatment of the the wider angle photo taken the same time as the more widely circulated high res image. Also a contemporary poster describing the photo's context.

During the recent Total Solar Eclipse the South Korean Danuri spacecraft obtained a nice view of Earth from Lunar orbit with the Moons shadow just visible on Earth. Here is their image, with attribution added, my colorized version and the nearly simultaneous EPIC-DSCOVR image used for the color.

🌕 Countdown to China’s August 2026 Chang’e-7 Moon mission! - Launched in 2010, Chang’e-2 mapped the Moon in 7m detail, then travelled to the Sun–Earth L2 point to test deep-space navigation. In 2012, it flew within 1km of asteroid Toutatis, capturing detailed images.

got in the mail today. it came with a sticker. pretty cool

📍🌕 China has completed an updated 1:5 million-scale geologic map of the entire Moon, the Institute of Geology said. A major scientific update from the 2024 version, it incorporates new research and significantly revises our understanding of the Moon’s geologic history.

51 years ago I painted a trio of Viking related works for NASA HQ including the widely reproduced one of the landing on Mars. I have reimagined the Landing portrayal in updated form using digital methods of visualization and painting. I chose the same angle but with reality replacing anticipation.

This is a fantastic essay. Read it If you have any interest in satellite imagery. “Who to Trust, Google or the Russian MoD? In 2015, that was a rhetorical question. Not anymore.” By @henkvaness.bsky.social

A flyby of Holden Crater on Mars HRSC / ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / Seán Doran

🚀🌕 Sunday, August 23rd at 12:00 AM UTC Is Lift Off for China's Chang'e 7 mission. Which will explore the Moon's south pole, targeting the rim of Shackleton Crater. Its main goal is to search for water ice hidden inside permanently shadowed craters—an important resource for future lunar exploration.

'Noctilucent' 452 images by Matthew Dominick are repaired, remastered & retimed to create this 3x & 2x real time video footage of noctilucent clouds illuminated by pre-dawn sunrise. Credit: Matthew Dominick / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran youtu.be/iO-SAhBWvS4

'Silent Storm' 3,500 images from a time-lapse sequence photographed by Sophie Adenot on ISS Expedition 74 are repaired, remastered & retimed to make this video with music by Stellardrone. 07m27s 4K www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUhK...

When the Viking landing sites were well photographed, maps of the surroundings could be compiled. I made a grayscale overview based on comparisons between the two camera panoramas, and with reference to sample field maps. A color oil painting of the lander was then done incorporating such work.

China eats lightning for breakfast...

Another amazing Martian landscape, sent back by Curiosity from high up on the slopes of Mt Sharp in the centre of the ancient Gale Crater... Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/fredk/S Atkinson

New panoramic view of The Clayborne* Range on Mars, as seen by Curiosity. (*that's just my nickname for this, honouring Ann Clayborne from Red Mars, but I'll keep using it until NASA either adopts it or bans me from using it!) Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/fredk/S Atkinson

After the 1st context panoramas, the next anticipated image was the first color photo. This arrived and was printed initially too blue, then the next adjusted image came out too reddish. Later work quantified the surface and sky colors in results consistent with the observations of later missions.

Some of my #scifi illustration. 1. Man on Mars (2019) 2. Transit City (2006) 3. Chasm (2014) 4. Global Warning (2016) These were made long ago with #3dsmax (and #Photoshop) , before I defected to #Blender. Please reskeet!

Starlight, moonlight & satellites abound in this 8x real time view from The International Space Station during Expedition 73. These sequences had challenging amounts of image artifacts and frame cadence irregularities which required extensive repair. youtu.be/GLOS1SurvBc?...

Starlight, moonlight & satellites abound in this 8x real time view from The International Space Station during Expedition 73. These sequences had challenging amounts of image artifacts and frame cadence irregularities which required extensive repair. youtu.be/GLOS1SurvBc?...

Tune in to hear a year’s worth of tidal disruption events, courtesy of the upcoming #NASARoman mission. Notice how the more distant ones are represented lower in pitch and last longer due to the effects of the expanding universe: https://news.stsci.edu/4vxvz6Q

I'm a little bit obsessed with this cable on Perseverance. In a landscape painted a million different hues & shades of red, brown & sepia, this is one of the only flashes of such beautiful, pure blue for many thousands of miles... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

OK my NASA friends, this sets the tone from the top. You don’t need to follow “rules” and should disobey directives that you don’t like. Go for it- do whatever the fuck you want! 🧪 www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-ja...

I don't have room to display half of my available prints this weekend. But all of them will be available & 50% off. 7359-104st Side door. (See quoted video) 10-5 Friday - Sunday. #yeg

'Starfield' 2,153 images from a time-lapse sequence photographed by JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui on ISS Expedition 73 are repaired, remastered & retimed to create this video with music by Andreas Vollenweider. WIP frame cadence fixes on this one. 02m50s 4K youtu.be/3pmh8jT6TE4

'Starfield' 2,153 images from a time-lapse sequence photographed by JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui on ISS Expedition 73 are repaired, remastered & retimed to create this video with music by Andreas Vollenweider. WIP frame cadence fixes on this one. 02m50s 4K youtu.be/3pmh8jT6TE4

The future of lots of easily accessible high-res satellite data seems to have been replaced by lots and lots of utterly inaccessible high-res imagery, controlled by sovereigns. 😔