Google Maps Snaps Plane in LA Intersection
We've seen a lot of weird Street View photos, but it's not often Google Maps gets a look in satellite view.
We love the weird and whacky folk that appear on Google Street View. Between the guy with the horses head and the Stig, we can't decide who we love the most. However, the latest Google Maps image to catch our attention isn't a Street View photo. It's a regular, old Google Maps satellite photo. Regular except for the part where there appears to be a plane parked on the intersection between Rose Ave. and Lincoln Blvd in Los Angeles.
Of course there's a perfectly reasonable this-is-right-in-line-with-the-location-of-Santa-Monica-Airport explanation for all of this, and there are tons of planes on Google Maps. These include a World War II bomber flying over a quiet English suburb, a single-winged plane landing in Amsterdam, and what appears to be an airplane traffic jam (which according to Geek About is just overlay issues). Check 'em out below!
*Images via Geek About.
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Why is this plane all shimmery?
Why is this plane all shimmery?
Probably because the colours (red, green and blue) are distorted from the fast movement of the jet, you can do something similar with a scanner and a colourful book, just pull it fast while it's scanning.
It looks like a photographic doppler effect. However, none of the airplane seem to be moving toward or away from the camera, but perpendicular.
Probably because the colours (red, green and blue) are distorted from the fast movement of the jet, you can do something similar with a scanner and a colourful book, just pull it fast while it's scanning.
We learn something new everyday dont we? :-)
I thought photo #1 was shopped until I read the comments.
Also, #4: ghost plane!
It looks like a photographic doppler effect. However, none of the airplane seem to be moving toward or away from the camera, but perpendicular.
Photographic Doppler effect? The plane is moving at a speed comparable to the speed of light? Wow.
Probably just sunlight reflecting off the top of the plane, and causing it to appear weird in the picture.
The pic of a "glowing plane" is probably a easter egg by Google.
Good find tho!
Here's one from High St. in Abington Massachusetts:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll [...] 8&t=h&z=19
I never thought these were anything special. What I think is funny is people with insanely messy yards.
Check out this yard:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll [...] 4&t=h&z=20
you all have it wrong! That plane is simply entering ludicrous speed :3
This isn't rocket science, the reason you see the color blur is that the camera uses 3 seperate color paths (RGB) that must have some delay just like a DLP projector. They are going to take a long exposure anyway because of the distance and losses through all the atmosphere. A moving object would blur, and if they are in fact using a color wheel, you would see the rainbow effect. I'm sure there is a lot of post image processing that attempts to make the picture sharper, and that is what makes the "ghost" plane seem more transparent since the software knew to remove the extra leading and trailing images of the plane, but the area under the plane was there the longest so it bleeds through in the image processing. Cheap digital cameras do the same thing in lower light conditions because they must take a longer exposure to get the brightness needed in the image.
Houston, plane #1 is about to begin re-entry
This news was on Gizmodo on July 14th. I like one of the post from propengineer: "This is a small biz jet out of Santa Monica Airport, (Citation maybe?). It is flying low just after take off and close enough to the ground(satellite's focus) that it is captured. The crazy acid trip is caused by the plane moving fast and the way satellites capture images. They don't use a rectangle CCD but rather a single row for each color. Because the satellite is moving so fast it scans the picture in a row at a time (just like a copier light moving across a page). A single pass can be 10 miles wide by 200 miles long, limited by memory. The plane moved a little bit between each color row passing over. Typically they have Red, Green, Blue, and Near Infrared sensors. For higher resolution a satellite will scan the same area twice in a single orbit using inertia wheels that can rotate the satellite using electric motors with weighted fly wheels attached. "
Sounds like a nice explanation to me. Though is it actually the case or not... I don't know...
They'l never catch a B2 in those pics.
#1 seems like a fake. Someone at Google having a laugh.
Where are all the overhead shots of those backyards in SAn Fernando Valley, the *uh-hmm* capital of the world?
Why is the plane smaller that real life? If anything, shouldn't it be bigger?
It is not smaller than real life. It is a smaller plane that is still 6 car lengths long. The lens is extremely far away, so the difference in appearance of size is not as pronounced. Like looking at trees on a mountain very far away versus 50 yards away.
I tried looking for the plane's shadow, but I gave up after 5 minutes. Would be interesting to know if anyone spots it (assuming it can be spotted).
Question is, does Google use aerial photos (from a high flying plane) or actual satellite images?
This image appears to have greater than 50cm spatial resolution. That is the highest resolution satellite imagery that Google uses. This appears to be aerial imagery (~30cm). Google is known to purchase both. I should know. I work for one of their imagery providers.
i still dream of the day when cars and planes use the same road :$
Question is, does Google use aerial photos (from a high flying plane) or actual satellite images?
Background info on the Massachusetts Aerial orthophotos that Google uses can be found here:
MassGIS
"The 15cm imagery was acquired in seven flights, at approximately 4,800 feet above mean terrain (AMT). . .The 30cm imagery was acquired in six flights, at approximately 9,440 feet AMT."
I couldn't find any attribution for the source of the LA photos in GoogleEarth. But I assume most US States have their own GIS programs.
These kinds of photographic "phenomena" just go to show that UFOs and ghosts really DON'T exist. Pictures are NEVER proof of anything. They can have bad exposure, bad development, and all sorts of weird things can happen.
extraterrestrial aircraft probably doesn't exit, or atleast has never been to earth. but UFOs exist, any flying object that isn't identified is a UFO.
i still dream of the day when cars and planes use the same road :$
And the first time you have a fender-bender with a 747 expect your premiums to go through the roof
Trusting Google maps almost made me late to a wedding out in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I left very early and just made it. Had to ask three people for directions because several things were incorrect on it. I will only use Google maps as a backup from now on. I guess you get what you pay for.
Gotta love these google-map pictures.
Dogman: Doppler shift occurs with any wave-based phenomena, light included. Ever heard of Doppler Radar? The big bang was first posited based on Doppler shift of light from other galaxies.
Here's another on an approach into Baltimore-Washington International (BWI). Even more pronounced RGB separation...
http://g.co/maps/e65ja