Amateur astronomers show 174-megapixel image of the Moon

Andrew McCarthy and Connor Mathern, amateur astrophotographers, took a detailed image of the Moon, consisting of more than 200,000 images.

McCarthy specializes in detailing shots, and Matern is well versed in color grading space shots. Last year, they met on Reddit and decided to take the «craziest» picture of the moon.

In one evening, Andrew and Connor took more than 200,000 black-and-white and color photographs of the satellite. After that, a long process of processing and gluing began, which took almost 9 months. The result is an epic 174MP image.

The authors note that the color of the moon is conveyed as realistically as possible — with the exception of increased saturation. This, according to McCarthy and Matern, is necessary so that the viewer does not miss a single detail from the field of view. For example, parts of the satellite rich in feldspar and iron are distinguished by a reddish tint, while lunar soil with a high content of titanium is bluish.

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