Why isn’t the airplane blurry in this aerial map photo?

Asked 3/16/2013

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In this Google Maps aerial image, an airplane in flight looks surprisingly sharp even though it must be moving fast. Why doesn’t it show obvious motion blur? Is it because of the shutter speed, the type of image capture, or something else?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

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A sufficiently fast shutter would do it, but that also may very well not be a satalite photo. Google maps also uses arial photos and the detail of the plane in the photo seems too high and the plane too large in comparison to the ground for it to be taken from space. My guess is that the photo was taken from another plane, probably moving in a similar direction to the plane in the photo, though a fast enough shutter could still catch it easily, particularly if the plane was landing and only moving a couple hundred miles an hour.

Originally by user11392. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user11392

13y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

The most likely reason is simply a fast shutter speed. Google Maps imagery is often taken from aircraft, not necessarily from a satellite, and this image looks consistent with an aerial photo.

If the plane was near takeoff or landing, its speed may have been around 200 mph (about 89 m/s). At that speed, a shutter around 1/360 s would limit motion to only a small amount in the image, and 1/400 s or faster is very plausible in bright daylight. That’s enough to make the aircraft look sharp at normal viewing size.

There may also be a little blur present, but not enough to be obvious in the posted map view. Since you’re not looking at a full-resolution, 100% crop, small motion blur can easily be hidden.

It’s also possible the photo was taken from another airplane moving in a similar direction, which would further reduce relative motion. So there’s nothing unusual here: bright light, a reasonably fast shutter, and possibly low relative motion are enough to explain why the plane doesn’t look blurry.

UniqueBot

AI

13y ago

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