Stunning mosaic of Moon created using 50,000 images

Cosmic photographer in California spent entire year bringing image to life

Andrew McCarthy, an astrophotographer in California, has created a mosaic of the Moon using 50,000 individual photos he captured. He released the image on July 20 to commemorate the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Courtesy: Andrew McCarthy

The image is so detailed, the craters on the surface are visible. Courtesy: Andrew McCarthy

Mr McCarthy has taken many other images. This is a composite image of the total lunar eclipse in 2019, which was created using thousands of photos. The detailed image captured the projection of the sunset. Courtesy: Andrew McCarthy

The North America nebula. Courtesy: Andrew McCarthy

An astrophotographer in the US has created a stunning mosaic of the Moon using 50,000 individual photographs he took to commemorate the day humans first landed on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.

Andrew McCarthy, an accomplished astrophotographer who lives in Sacramento, California, said he spent a year bringing the masterpiece – his most ambitious project yet – to life.

Measuring more than a gigapixel, the final image is so detailed that it shows the many craters on the lunar surface. He used special software to line up and adjust the images to create the final product.

“The image is a mosaic made from around 50,000 individual images, with many layers composited to create the scene and make the details as clear as possible,” Mr McCarthy told The National.

“The full-sized image is over a gigapixel and shows the craters of the moon in crisp detail. It was captured using an eight-inch [20-centimetre] telescope with a special astrophotography camera and processing the images took me nearly a year working on it intermittently to get it just right.”

Mr McCarthy, who has been photographing the wonders of space for four years, said it was timely to release the image on the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

Before a full-time career in astrophotography, he said he was working in software.

“My career is now cosmic photography, supported by my patrons," he said. "My passion for this began as a child, as I remember looking through my father’s telescope and seeing the wonders of the universe. That led to a love of space throughout my life.

“Creating these images is a lesson in patience. I use a special camera on a telescope with a long focal length and capture thousands of pictures of small sections of the moon, which are stacked to defeat the distortion caused by our atmosphere and to increase the dynamic range of the scene.

“Since it was my largest and most ambitious image to date, I felt it was timed nicely with the anniversary of the event that inspired so many to look to the skies.”

Mr McCarthy has built up a following of 500,000 people on Instagram thanks to the images he has taken.

Some of the others he took are of the International Space Station crossing the Sun, a composite photo of the total lunar eclipse in 2019 that was created using thousands of individual photos and the North America nebula.

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UAE’s first astronaut in space, Hazza Al Mansouri, captured this photo of the Emirates during his eight-day trip on the International Space Station. Courtesy: Hazza Al Mansouri Twitter

Kuwait photographed from space during the night. The Arabian Gulf is on the top right side and the Kuwait Bay is on the left.

Thunderclouds march past the Al Qassim region of central Saudi Arabia on April 13, 2016. Nasa reported the storm clouds were likely related to the heavy rainfall and flooding in Yemen during that time.

An astronaut captured a photograph of the port city in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2017.

The Arabian Gulf photographed from the space station

A dusty atmosphere over central Saudi Arabia in 2014. The dunes in Riyadh are visible from space

Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured an image of Dubai’s lights during the night. Courtesy: Scott Kelly Twitter

A dust plume surging over the Red Sea and reaching Saudi Arabia in 2013. The Nile River is visible on the top left side of the image.

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The city of Madinah in Saudi Arabia

The Levant region captured from space

Es Safa, a basaltic volcanic field in southeast of Damascus, Syria, photographed from space in 2010. It is the largest volcanic field on the Arabian tectonic plate.

Port of Aden in Yemen

The Strait of Tiran, which separates the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea, captured from space in 2013

The southeastern margin of the Empty Quarter, also known as the Ar Rub’ al Khali, in Oman. An astronaut took this photo in 2011

Lake Dukan, shaped almost like a Christmas tree, in Iraq photographed from space in 2018.

A dust storm over the Arabian gulf in August, 2008

Damascus, Syria, photographed from space in 2013