1)However, it may bring up more awkward questions, so thinking about it, I should not do that...
Do it if you must. Obrien thinks the question of what it is is fairly off-topic and not important, and I really don't care either way. If you think it is important, then go ahead. Go for it.
2)I am no astronomer unfortunately and I think you know that there are probably few here on the forum, which is why you may be able to get away with this suggestion without too many questions being asked.
I don't care if questions are asked. I just say what I see.
__________________
What if Pinnochio says that his nose will grow longer?
By the way, if it is Venus, given its close proximity and brightness, it isn't surprising it survived the glare. I am sure you could actually work out if it was Venus or not - if you wanted to. However, it may bring up more awkward questions, so thinking about it, I should not do that...
Now how would I work out where Venus was on that night - Looking in a straight line there's us on Earth looking directly at the Moon and then onto the Sun.
How many degrees is this 'thing' off to the side of this line? It would mean that Earth and Venus would just about be opposite each other (minus 10 degrees or something) on that night with the Sun roughly in the middle.
I am no astronomer unfortunately and I think you know that there are probably few here on the forum, which is why you may be able to get away with this suggestion without too many questions being asked.
I am sure O'Brien could have told us in no time at all. He's the man with the big telescope and you dont have those unless you know where Venus is and where to look in the sky for it!
2)Is that the body's own light or is it a reflection of the light off the Moon - in which case, it is something fairly near (ie not light years away).
If it is reflected light, it is being reflected from the Sun and the object in question is much farther away than Luna. In other words, a planetary body in the inner solar system. If it is light being generated at the object's surface/from the object, then we couldn't really tell the distance. By the way, planets in our solar system are nowhere near light years away, but I'm sure you know that.
__________________
What if Pinnochio says that his nose will grow longer?
Indeed, there are two more bright points of light. I couldn't say for sure if they are important, but, well, there they are.
By the way, if it is Venus, given its close proximity and brightness, it isn't surprising it survived the glare. The two objects at top right didn't do as well.
__________________
What if Pinnochio says that his nose will grow longer?
Actually, after all that, I have done some extra 'processing' magic and there are two more 'things' one is up at the top right hand corner of the photograph and the other is just under half a moons-width away from it, at the 8 o'clock position. This third one is much dimmer in intensity. Let me know if you cannot see what I am talking about.
I have often seen these in Apollo Moon photos. They appear to be spherical to me, but that could just be the distances involved. It would be interesting to get our hands on an original quality one to find out what they are.
1)...and I would draw your attention to the bright-coloured speck of dirt at 9 o'clock which looks to me like it may be a star of some kind - or a spaceship(unlikely).
I am not 100 percent sure on this, but it might be a planet, possibly Venus. The fact that we can see it means it has to be pretty bright.
Yes, possibly Venus or maybe even the ubiquitous weather balloon which is so often suggested???!!!
It is strange that this is the only 'star' in the sky. Is that the body's own light or is it a reflection of the light off the Moon - in which case, it is something fairly near (ie not light years away).
Maybe this body was what the photo was supposed to show us and not the eclipse at all?
1)...and I would draw your attention to the bright-coloured speck of dirt at 9 o'clock which looks to me like it may be a star of some kind - or a spaceship(unlikely).
I am not 100 percent sure on this, but it might be a planet, possibly Venus. The fact that we can see it means it has to be pretty bright.
2)Although I know that light travels in straight lines,
Light travels in straight lines as much as sound travels in straight lines ;).
3)haven't I read somewhere (not sure) that there is a phenomena which makes light appear to bend slightly around a round body?
Well, the little refraction effect doesn't exactly occur only around round objects. Just anything with a significant gravitational pull. Officially, it has to do with the "warping" of "space-time", but in reality, it has more to do with a gravitationally-bound "atmosphere" of neutrinos, the propogators of electromagnetic radiation. Good luck finding that in a textbook, though ;).
3)On the other hand, it may be the Earth reflecting light back on to the Moon, very much like we can read in moon light.
In my opinion, I doubt that the Earth would provide sufficient lighting in order to fully expose the nighttime half of the Moon bright enough to bring out the detail observed in the image. So the question goes unanswered for me until I get my hands on some better knowledge.
4)However, in theory, we are in the shadow here so there probably would not be much light being reflected back perhaps?
Well, don't forget that Earth is still much larger than Luna. The moon's shadow will not totally darken the entire planet, which is why we get partial eclipses in some regions and even no eclipses in other locations. But it could darken it enough so that ambient light reflected off of Earth is minimized. Just my take.
__________________
What if Pinnochio says that his nose will grow longer?
...and I would draw your attention to the bright-coloured speck of dirt at 9 o'clock which looks to me like it may be a star of some kind - or a spaceship(unlikely). Now... try and argue that images taken into the sun dont show stars please.
Although I know that light travels in straight lines, haven't I read somewhere (not sure) that there is a phenomena which makes light appear to bend slightly around a round body? I think there is some official name for the phenomena. On the other hand, it may be the Earth reflecting light back on to the Moon, very much like we can read in moon light. However, in theory, we are in the shadow here so there probably would not be much light being reflected back perhaps?
Can we have the url of the original of second picture please? I would like to examine the streamers seen at the edge of the moon which may be from the sun or maybe image artifacts. I realise that the round tree-rings are image artifacts but the straight ones may not be.
Is it just me, or am I noticing a significance here?
Maybe no one else caught on, but the first thing I am thinking about is the Sun's corona. It does not belong there if the Sun is a nuclear reactor ;)
As far as features near the Earth being visible, perhaps it is related to electricity in some way?
Of course, I should do better than that.
I doubt it is just ambient light - there isn't really going to be enough ambience in space to see that much detail, especially in this instance. So I say it must have something to do with electrical interactions, but the nature of which I don't yet know.
__________________
What if Pinnochio says that his nose will grow longer?
