Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2018

46 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2018 between true and false astronomical photographs is evident, and often in magazines and especially on the web, we find more or less fake images, which if not declared as such they can mislead less expert readers or visitors. Here we present some examples of fake images or artworks which at first sight appear realistic for the simple fact of containing real subjects, but which are instead photomontages. Let's start with images that include the three most familiar subjects: the Sun, the Earth and the Moon. At the top, we see what should be a total eclipse of the Sun taken from high al- titude (stratosphere or beyond). There are two elements that betray the falsity of the image: the shadow projected by the eclipse should be more roun- ded and the diamond ring around the Sun would be more than enough to delete the Milky Way. Above we find a full Moon that rises over a moun- tainous landscape and reflects in a lake. In addition to being unusu- ally detailed, the lunar disk is oversized and its reflection in the water is too sharp when compared to that of the mountain. Below, there is instead an overly large Earth 'seen' by astronauts on an Apollo mission. As Jim Lovell said (Apollo 8 and 13), from the Moon it is enough to stretch out an arm and to raise the thumb upward to hide the Earth. In this case, the whole hand may not be enough. Above, a pseudo-selfie of an astronaut. If the light that il- luminates him is artificial, the background should definitely be darker. If the astronaut is illuminated by the Sun, one should not see the artificial lights on the ground. Regardless of this, the thickness of the atmosphere is excessive. Strange views of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon