# Space probes, motion, and photography **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-probes-motion-and-photography/725213 "2015-07-15T03:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-probes-motion-and-photography/725213/1 "2015-07-15T03:17:19Z")
After seeing some of the pictures New Horizons has sent back from Pluto, I got to wondering. How do you take a sharp picture at high magnification from a space probe traveling at high speeds? According to an article I just read: > [@](#): > > The unmanned piano-size spacecraft went over Pluto at 7:49 a.m. ET, traveling at nearly 31,000 mph about 7,750 miles above Pluto’s surface, NASA said. I’m assuming that in the environ’s of Pluto, exposure times would have to be fairly long. At long distances, the motion blur might not matter, but when the probe nears the planet, does the camera have to track the planet? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-probes-motion-and-photography/725213/2 "2015-07-15T03:30:27Z")
7750 miles is still very far. Flying by a planet 7750 miles away at 31,000 mph is like driving by a landmark 7.75 miles away at 31 mph.