English: Apollo 16 Nikon 35 mm magazine (127). This exposure shows the Gum Nebula (Gum 12).
The
Apollo 16 Preliminary Science Report (NASA SP-315), describes the equipment:
The photography of these low-brightness sources used the 35-min Nikon camera with a 55-mm lens, set at f/1.2 and infinity. Eastman Kodak type 2485, black-and-white, high-speed recording emulsion was used. The camera was mounted on a special bracket to use the right-hand rendezvous window. To prevent stray, internal illumination produced by cabin and instrument lights from entering the camera optics, a special window shade was used. This shade, designed for the study of the gegenschein/Moulton region, isolates the window so that reflections and scattering of unwanted cabin light cannot occur.
Filters used for Gum Nebula photography had the following characteristics. The blue filter in combination with transmission properties of the command module window passed wavelengths from approximately 420 to 510 nm. The red filter along with the emulsion cut-off accepted wavelengths from 610 to 700 nm. For the zodiacal light, a standard polaroid filter was modified to make its end-stops of rotation exactly 90° apart. The white light bandpass of the polarized and unfiltered light is 420 to 700 nm, with the coated windowpanes cutting off in the blue and emulsion characteristics cutting off in the red.