A trick of perspective in NASA photos of the moon and Earth do not prove that space is fake

If Your Time is short

• The size discrepancy in two NASA photos of the moon and Earth is because of a difference in perspective. The image taken from farther away is zoomed in, making the Earth look larger.

• Using a mug and a Lego figurine, we show how this “evidence” is just a trick in perspective achievable with any camera.

With the release of new colorful bowling-alley-carpetesque photos from the James Webb Space Telescope, it is official. Space is cool again.

But for some people, such out-of-this-world images serve as evidence that, as one Instagram post claimed, "SPACE IS FAKE."

That July 20, 2022, post relied on old NASA images to suggest that the varying sizes of the moon and Earth in relation to each other prove space is a myth.

"Show me the angular size of something that gets smaller the CLOSER you get to it…" read the caption, implying that because Earth appears smaller than the moon in the second photo, it must be inauthentic.

The post, which comes from an account that has shared a number of false claims suggesting the earth is flat, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Instagram is owned by Facebook. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Here’s why the post is wrong.

The top photo was captured by a camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite that orbits about 1...

Read Full Story: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jul/28/viral-image/trick-perspecti...