Rare Footage Shows The Moon Melting Away In An Orbital Sunset

A piece of rare footage has emerged that shows an incredible phenomenon that makes the moon appear as if it is melting as it dips out of view.

The video was taken from space, and shows earth's largest and most famous satellite - sorry Elon - as the orbital sunset takes place.

Whilst it's not massively important to get into exactly why this happens, it's definitely worth a look, because it looks like something- quite literally - out of this world.

As the moon disappears beyond the horizons of the earth, it starts to warp and distort, before appearing to deflate and flatten out completely before disappearing into the darkness.

So, what's actually happening is the earth's atmosphere causing the optical illusion of the distortions, as the earth is simply moving around out of view behind the earth's horizon.

This piece of stunning footage was initially shared by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov on Russia's largest social media platform, VKontakte.

He said that the reason it's so strange is that the footage was taken at night, which means that the actual side of the earth can't properly be seen.

That's why it appears as if the moon is simply deflating and flattening out before disappearing in on itself.

The solid black background provided by the dark earth adds the extra illusion and ethereal quality to the whole thing.

You've got to admit, it's pretty neat, isn't it?

Sergei explained that this is actually how the orbital sunset of the moon looks when you observe it from space.

He would know, too. He's been there, seen it, and - presumably - got the t-shirt.

Surely cosmonauts must at least get a t-shirt to keep?

Sergei said: "Before it disappears behind the horizon, its reflected light passes through the Earth's atmosphere and is distorted."

The 37-year-odl spaceman is currently working aboard the International Space Station, but in 2014 he was one of those who participated in the CAVES mission organised by the European Space Agency, and worked on the Pangaea program in November 2018.

In short, he knows his apples when it comes to space phenomena.

That Pangaea program prepared Russian cosmonauts and space engineers to identify planetary geological features in order to set them up for future visits to the moon, or perhaps Mars, or to asteroids.

Either way, you don't have to fully understand the science behind this to understand the beauty of it.

Featured Image Credit: Newsflash

Topics: Science, World News, Interesting, Technology, Weird, space

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim