THE CASE FOR MOTION BLUR


SMEAR CAMPAIGN

    The foundation of the case for motion blur lies in the fact that the Lunar Orbiter camera had a problem with this, and the Lunar Orbiter 3 mission was one known example.  But does that fact alone prove the double craters were caused by motion-induced smearing?  Of course not, but it is more than enough to make the objective observer wary.

    But if the presence of motion blur in Lunar Orbiter 3 images is not enough to make one wary, the blurry, streaked and smeared appearance of the images presented should.

    Significant streaking can be seen along the rim and far wall of this crater.  This is a sure sign of motion blur.  Notice that the streaking does not seem to affect the double craters.  Some would claim this is proof that the doubles are true features on the lunar surface, but this would ignore the likelihood that the larger crater would have a coarse texture on a scale large enough not to disappear when blurred.

    Note that the degree of smear in the crater is approximately the same as the length of the doubles.

    But we have grown accustomed to the horizontal streaking, so now it seems less pronounced that it did at first.  Time for a change of perspective...

    This is the same image simply rotated 90 degrees to the right.  The streaking is now vertical and apparently more pronounced.  This is because we are seeing it 'fresh', from a different perspective.

    It is easy to become accustomed to the horizontal smearing and simply not see it anymore.  This makes it easier to see the doubles as real features on the Moon's surface.

    This image spans about four framelets, or horizontal strips, on the original Lunar Orbiter frame.  Anyone familiar with the quality of a good Lunar Orbiter frame would realize that this image should be much clearer and reveal much more detail than can be seen here.  This is true of all frames where the multiple crater pairs can be seen.

   This demonstration will, I think, convince most that motion blur is the most likely cause of the doubling of the smaller craters.  But there is one more step, something not tried by those who claim the crater pairs are true features on the Moon.  The logical thing to do is to test the effects of motion blur on other lunar images which otherwise show no signs of blurring.

  This is the purpose of The Test.

Author: MikeLomax@aol.com