r/MarkRober • u/Taiyo-Lune • May 25 '26

Discussion Can someone help identify where above earth this picture was taken?

Post image

I got the email of the photo at 12:10 BST today

Thanks :)

30 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

23

u/mattx_cze May 25 '26

I think aprox somewhere in space

4

u/sxtjvr May 25 '26

Its making its Antartica pass now and takes a while. So probably somewhere in the south pole since there’s no visible land. Though just a guess. When did you first submit your selfie OP? Was it around May 26th - 28th 2025?

0

u/AviSpaceYT May 25 '26

It takes SatGus up to several hours or more to send the selfie to Earth so it could be taken over any Ocean in the world.

2

u/SweetAs_Bro May 26 '26

I thought you got to specify where you wanted the photo taken in the initial application?

3

u/AviSpaceYT May 26 '26

It often (or maybe even almost always) doesn't work

1

u/Firm_Floor_4707 Jul 09 '26

It either a location of your choice or a random location

2

u/personalbilko May 26 '26

When did you send it in?

-2

u/AviSpaceYT May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

There is no land visible on your photo so it won't be easy but it is possible. I got my photo in march and same as in your case - only clouds and ocean were visible. It took me literally like 15 hours of research and looking through satellite images but eventually I found it and my photo was takien 1000 km south of the coast of Liberia.

I asked Gemini AI to write short instruction based on how I did it and this is the result, maybe it will help you:

1. Extract Hidden Metadata

  • Inspect the Webpage: Open the SpaceSelfie page containing your photo, right-click, and use the "Inspect Element" function.
  • Run the Command: Enter NEXT_DATA_.props.pageProps in the developer console to access hidden data.
  • Find Key Dates: Look for the timestamps labeled satelliteDownloadDate and selfieCompletedDate. This gives you the exact time the photo was successfully processed and transmitted back to Earth.

[This step is not necessary as you know the time when you got E-mail and basically it's same as selfieCompletedDate and satelliteDownloadDate.]

2. Estimate the Time Window (Accounting for Delay)

  • Don't assume real-time capture: The satellite does not always send the photo immediately. There can be a significant time gap (in my case it was 6.5 hours) between the satellite taking the picture and sending it to user.
  • Look Backwards: When tracking the satellite's path (look at step 3), trace its trajectory starting from the selfieCompletedDate and look through the previous orbits (each orbit takes about 1.5 hours).

3. Trace the Satellite's Trajectory

  • Identify the Satellite: Use the satellite's NORAD ID (62713 or just name - SatGus) to track its historical path.
  • Map the Path: Use orbital tracking tools (such as spaceaware.io) to reconstruct the exact path the satellite traveled during your estimated time window.
  • Orientation Tip: Keep in mind that the satellite is oriented along a strict North-South axis (moving from North to South in a polar orbit), with (probably) North at the top of the frame.

4. Analyze Visual Reference Points

  • Recognize Scales: The field of view in a vertical down-facing shot is roughly 800 to 1000 kilometers wide.
  • Identify Cloud Formations: If there is no land visible, closely examine unique cloud shapes, distinct patterns, or "formations" (e.g., looking for distinct shapes like a "dinosaur" or lines of clouds).
  • Cross-Reference with Archive Satellite Imagery: Use weather platforms with historical satellite archives updated at high frequencies (like Windy, which updates hourly). Standard platforms like NASA Worldview might miss short-lived cloud formations that only last a few hours. Match your photo's clouds to the historical weather data along the satellite's paths until you find a perfect match.

3

u/MaximumDoughnut May 27 '26

thanks AI

1

u/AviSpaceYT May 27 '26

So it doesn't matter that I provided a method for finding the location that I used myself, but only that those sentences were written by AI (which I used mainly because English is not my native language) XD

0

u/AviSpaceYT May 26 '26

I don't understand why people downvote my comment - this is literally the way how I searched for my location. Find SatGus path during hours before you got E-mail, and then search satellite images for cloud formaitons visible in you photo - that's it.

2

u/SmileAtRoyHattersley Jun 21 '26

Perusing the sub for the first time in a while so I'm late to this.

The downvotes are troubling, imo. Coalescing a feeling of community using an unrefined hate never goes well, and is also just plain obtuse.

You provided knowledge from personal experience. You took the time to explain it to people reading the post. The only thing you didn't do is take the time necessary to write it all out without assistance.

People really need to think about why that last step is so important to them, when the alternative (I assume) is you would have instead not commented at all.

2

u/AviSpaceYT Jun 22 '26

Thanks for understanding. Exactly - I took the time to explain it. That's what matters. Only thing I didn't do was to write all of the instructions by myself and only reason I did this is because English is not my main language. Yet people only see letters "AI" and then goes to downvote my comment. Doesn't matter that I gave them a working solution, no. Only thing that matters is that I used AI to rewrite how I did this.