Also the Airforce and Northrop Grumman must be familiar with the idea of celestial navigation. And the shot was clearly taken in the evening on purpose (I assume, at least, that a PR shot has to justify being taken outside of maximum daylight).

They probably want it to feel vaguely spacey for the sci-fi vibes.

They’ve got at least as good star charts as the rest of us, so if they really wanted to be jokers they could photoshop some stars in, make it look like it is flying over an adversary’s country…