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The reason you see no stars in any of the pictures from the moon landing (or in any of the pictures of Earth taken from the space shuttle) is because the light of the sun, reflecting off the moon (or Earth) is simply too bright, and it washes out the light from the dim stars in the background.

To understand this, you need to know a little about how cameras work. When the shutter release on a camera is pressed, the shutter opens for a fraction of a second, allowing the light-sensitive material behind the shutter to be exposed. The amount of light that is allowed through is controlled both by how wide the shutter opens (aperture) and for how long it's open (shutter speed). The brighter the object being photographed the less light you want to let through to the film. Too much exposure will create an unrecognizable photograph; you will simply see a white blob. This is critical to understand because it is at the heart of the "missing" stars.

The surface of the moon, in direct sunlight (as it was during the Apollo missions), is very bright. So bright, in fact, that it can create shadows on the Earth in the middle of the night from 238,000 miles away. That fact alone means any camera used on the moon's surface must have the settings as such to no overexpose the film. But the astronauts weren't just taking pictures of the moon; they also took pictures of each other. The cameras used by the crew were set up to take pictures of the lunar surface, other astronauts in white spacesuits, in a bright white environment, in the middle of the lunar morning, in direct sunlight. The fact that no stars showed up in the images is to be expected. Had there been stars there would have been more evidence of a hoax.

You can test this theory yourself. Tonight, grab your camera and stand inside your house near the window with all the lights on (you can even open the window to make sure there is no obstruction between yourself and the stars). Now position something in front of the window yet still inside, in direct lamp light. Using your camera (it doesn't matter if you use the auto settings or change the settings yourself) take a bunch of pictures of the object in front of you (remember that object is your focus, you are trying to get pictures of your vase, not the sky!). Now look at the images and count the number of stars in your pictures. The sky behind the well lit object in your house is black without stars, and that was just using lamplight not direct sunlight.

Incidentally, there are pictures taken of stars by a crew on the moon. Apollo 16 brought a special UV camera to the lunar surface for the specific purpose of doing some astronomy. There are hundreds of pictures of stars, just not in the pictures of the bright lunar surface.

See related link for a picture of the moon from Space - no stars!!

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Q: Why is no stars in any of the moon landing pictures?
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Related questions

Why aren't there any stars on the moon?

The stars are visible from the moon and are in fact clearer than when view from Earth. You do not see the stars in pictures taken on the moon because the exposure is set too low for the camera to pick them up.


Why is there no stars in any of the photos from the moon landing?

Most likely because the exposure of the camera was set too low to pick them up. Most cameras are not sensitive enough to detect the stars.


What is a moon landing?

Moon landing is the reaching to the surface of a moon in a spacecraft that may be human-driven or robotic. For humans the Moon is a natural satellite that is in orbit around the Earth, though any natural satellite of any planet is a moon, so to say moon landing is any act of arriving on the surface of a moon. Please see related link.


Why did they do a fake moon landing?

There have never been any "fake" moon landings.


Is there any videos of Neil landing on the moon?

yes


Is there any human casualty for moon landings?

No one has died on the moon or during a moon landing except in the movies.


Where is a good landing site on the moon?

Any flat piece of land would make a good landing site.


Did the moon landing help your unedrstanding of gravity?

Probably very little, if any at all. Our understanding of gravity had to be pretty darn good in the first place or the moon landing could not have succeeded.


When is the next moon landing?

Good question. At this time there are no definite plans by any country or organization for a moon landing. Such a project would be very expensive, and no one is willing to commit to it at this time.


Can astrounats only visit the moon when it is full?

No. In fact on all the Apollo moon missions, the full moon didn't coincide with any of the moon landing dates.


Which big the moon or the stars?

The moon is incredibly small as compared to any stars that can be seen in the sky, although because the moon is so close to Earth, it looks large.


Did the moon give birth to the stars?

No. The stars formed independent of the moon or any other object in the solar system. Some of the stars we see at night are older than the moon and some are younger.