A Smilie Moon and Earthshine
A Smilie Moon and Earthshine
f/5.6 1.0 sec ISO 3200
In February and March the ecliptic, the plane of our solar system, becomes almost vertical to the Earth especially closer to the equator. The Sun, moon and the other planets appear in the ecliptic as well as the constellations of the Zodiac. Because of this phenomena the moon seems to be tipped over in its side and when it is a crescent it looks like it's smiling!
I was hoping to get a few shots of the "smile" Saturday night, but it was fairly cloudy. I set up my tripod anyway and the moon peeked though the clouds a few times to allow for a couple of photos. In the shot above, the moon was behind a little bit of haze. I believe that that is Mars just to the upper right of the moon, but I'm not positive.
The dim glow on the whole surface of the moon is caused by sunlight being reflected off the Earth. This is known as earthshine. The phases of the Earth as seen from the moon are just the opposite of the phases of the moon. When the moon is full the Earth is new and when there is a new moon there is a full Earth. When is moon is a small crescent, as it is now, the Earth is almost full and plenty of light is being reflected back to the moon.
Here are a few more shots that I took the other night.
f/6.3 1.0 sec ISO 3200
f/6.3 1/6 sec ISO 3200
f/6.3 1/5 sec ISO 3200
f/5.6 0.5 sec ISO 3200
f/5.6 1/4 sec ISO 3200
| Category | The moon |
| Settings | Various |
| Camera | Canon 60D |
| Lens | Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM |
| Location | Mims, Florida |
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Enjoy!
Roger
Those are some really good shots...
For some reason the first few reminds me of macaroons.... hmmmm
I think I need a sugar fix ;D
You must be hungry! Thank you for your comments!
So beautiful... Especially the glowing ones... Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures!
Thank you for your comments!
My pleasure!
Oh gosh! I can never take night pictures well but not only captured the "smiles" your shots also managed to capture that atmospheric aura of a lunar eclipse.... which is always a magical feeling, a bit dark magic feel! :D Wonderful shots, @rwedegis <3
My night shots have been a lot of hit or miss, mostly miss! For these I used aperture priority, manual focus, a 2 second shutter delay and a tripod. Thank you for your comments!
Oh!! These are still such cool shots! I really love how the fog,mist or whatever it is surrounds the moon.
You and that camera are having a secret love affair! It is so obvious!
!tip
Thank you so much for your sweet comments and the tip!
It is always my pleasure!
Hey, stay outta my head, man! Last night I was looking at the crescent moon, hiding behind all the pine trees, and wondering if I was catching a peek of earthshine. Pretty sure I haven't captured it before (still haven't...lol) but I can content myself for now by gazing at your awesomesauce shots! Well done, Roger!
Thank you Traci! It is Earthshine! I'm still working at getting the perfect shot. Usually the perfect time is when I'm walking the dogs. By the time I get my camera, the moment is gone!
You still got a few really got shot of the moon @rwedegis.
Thank you @joelai!
You are welcome @rwedegis!
🎁 Hi @rwedegis! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @dswigle!
@dswigle wrote lately about: Capturing The Light Feel free to follow @dswigle if you like it :)
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