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This is an early computer rendering of how the Earth's gravity would distort light from distant stars if our planet had the density of a neutron star. The resolution of the image is very low -- maybe 256x256 -- and the color palette is limited. The Earth is in the center of the image, oriented so that North and South America are visible to the viewer. Parts of Europe and Africa are also visible because of the distortion of light rays by the the Neutron-Earth's gravity. Images of stars cluster near the Earth, and the shapes of nearby spherical objects are slightly distorted.

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This is an early computer rendering of how the Earth's gravity would distort light from distant stars if our planet had the density of a neutron star. The resolution of the image is very low -- maybe 256x256 -- and the color palette is limited. The Earth is in the center of the image, oriented so that North and South America are visible to the viewer. Parts of Europe and Africa are also visible because of the distortion of light rays by the the Neutron-Earth's gravity. Images of stars cluster near the Earth, and the shapes of nearby spherical objects are slightly distorted.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/554/495/671/194/235/original/ef5d641840a0bc12.jpeg

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Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 16-Jun-2023 15:02:15 UTC Robert McNees

The Astronomy Picture of the Day website posted its first picture #OTD in 1995. It was a computer-generated image of how Earth would bend starlight if it had the density of a neutron star.
The APOD (on here as @APoD) is 28 years old today. 28 years old! A fixture of my daily online routine has been around for over a quarter-century.
https://apod.nasa.gov/rjn/apod/ap950616.html

In conversation Friday, 16-Jun-2023 15:02:15 UTC from mastodon.social permalink