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Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps

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Re: Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps

#22
post #14

Interesting how you can see the chromatic aberration on the bomber but not the ground. I guess that this implies that the optical and/or software correction that they're doing only works within a _very_ narrow focal plane, given the relative proximity of the bomber to the ground. This is kind of surprising, because if the tolerances for avoiding chromatic aberration are that small, whatever is collecting this data wo…

I wonder how low it is, found the shadow of it close by 39.02468482732915, -93.6023120071418 https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2%B001'28.9%22N+93%C2%...

Re: Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps

#23
post #14

Interesting how you can see the chromatic aberration on the bomber but not the ground. I guess that this implies that the optical and/or software correction that they're doing only works within a _very_ narrow focal plane, given the relative proximity of the bomber to the ground. This is kind of surprising, because if the tolerances for avoiding chromatic aberration are that small, whatever is collecting this data wo…

This kind of looks like purple fringing but it's not, see other comments saying this is lag in a multi shot image.

Re: Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure you wrote this in jest, but in case people aren't aware: The "Stealth" in "Stealth bomber" refer to hiding the plane from anti-aircraft defenses like radar, infrared, acoustics and some optical visibility, but the anti-reflective paint that is used for hiding it optically is only on the underside, not on the top.

I wonder if imaging from above could actually be a threat for these planes. I mean -- stick cameras on all the SpaceX satellites and you've got an awful lot of eyeballs in LEO, right? Might at least be able to tell a ground based radar where to focus their search...

They fly in the dark and IR imaging doesn't work very well due to coatings and trying to hide the engine heath signature.

Re: Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps

#27

Interesting how the three separate R/G/B images are taken independently a few ~seconds~ milliseconds apart, with a different color filter placed over the image sensor. I assume this is to maximize resolution, since no Bayer interpolation [0] is needed to demosaic the output of a traditional image sensor that integrates the color filters onto the sensor pixels themselves. As these satellites are not intended to photog…

My napkin calculations are that the three channels are ~10ms apart, given the bomber is 69 feet nose-to-tail* and an assumption of 400 mph velocity.

* http://www.dept.aoe.vt.edu/~mason/Mason_f/B2Spr09.pdf

Re: Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps

#29

I would love to know if this was found other than randomly poking around and if so how it worked specifically. "out of place shapes in the middle of fields" might find out some other neat stuff too.

It's only ~25 miles from the one base in the US that hosts an active B2 wing. There's another on the ground there in Google Maps; https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%B043'29.7%22N+93%C2%...

I don't think I realized how huge the B2 actually is.
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