Tag: Moon

Sedona Moonrise–June 2024

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It is the season for capturing the nearly-full Moon as it rises behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona. The best time to capture this is a day (or two) before the actual full Moon so that late afternoon sunlight still illuminates Cathedral Rock. The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) was used to determine the best location to shoot this as it became visible between the towers.

Unfortunately, there was a major dust storm the day and dust remained in the air partially obscuring the Moon at lower elevation angles. The Moon got brighter as it rose higher in the sky.

The nearly full Moon rises behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
The nearly full Moon rises behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.

And here is a time-lapse sequence of the Moon rising.

Time-lapse sequence of the Moon rising behind Cathedral Rock.

Bonus:

Here is additional Moon photograph taken at Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff in early June. I was going for the reflection.

Moonlight reflected in Upper Lake Mary from a crescent Moon.
Moonlight reflected in Upper Lake Mary from a crescent Moon.

 

 

Moonrise and Cathedral Rock–May 2024

We are now in the season for capturing the nearly-full Moon as it rises behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona. The best time to capture this is a day (or two) before the actual full Moon so that late afternoon sunlight still illuminates Cathedral Rock. As always, The Photographers Ephemeris greatly aides in determining the best location to capture this event.

The nearly-full Moon rises behind Cathedral Rock and Oak Creek near Sedona, Arizona.
The nearly-full Moon rises behind Cathedral Rock and Oak Creek near Sedona, Arizona.

The timing on this Moonrise was late enough that the Sun would already be partially obscured by mountains and ridges to the west. So one photograph was made when the light on Cathedral Rock was most dramatic and about ten minutes later the Moon photograph was taken as it rose above Cathedral Rock. The two photographs were then combined to create this composite image.

A short time earlier there were several people on the rocks in the creek including a portrait photographer. Thankfully they got their shots and left before it was time for us to take our photographs.

Bonus: a few days earlier I shot this image of the waxing gibbous Moon using a 500mm telephoto.

Waxing gibbous Moon on 17 May 2024.
Waxing gibbous Moon on 17 May 2024.

 

Comet 144P/Kishuda

Last week I was able to get some good images of Comet 144P/Kushida which was located in the constellation Taurus and near the star Aldebaran. Being this close to a bright star makes it fairly easy to find.

Comet 144P/Kushida on 13 February 2024 while it moved through the constellation Taurus.
Comet 144P/Kushida on 13 February 2024 while it moved through the constellation Taurus.
Screen shot from Stellarium showing the field of view at 500mm.
Screen shot from Stellarium showing the field of view at 500mm.

I first shot using an 80-200mm zoom lens. The short end (80mm) gave me a wide field of view to find the comet and then I zoomed to the long end (200mm). After about a half-hour of shooting I decided to switch to the 200-500mm zoom lens. Starting at 200mm to center the comet, I then zoomed to 500mm. The image above is the result of stacking 22 images (11 minutes exposure time) then post processing with rnc-color-stretch and finally, Lightroom and Photoshop. Above is a screen shot from the sky application Stellarium showing the field of view at 500mm.

The waxing gibbous Moon on 18 February 2024.
The waxing gibbous Moon on 18 February 2024.

Bonus: image of the waxing gibbous Moon a week later. The image was converted from RGB to L*a*b color space and then the two color channels were adjusted to bring out the subtle colors of the Moon.

Three Planets and the Moon

A few days ago the waxing crescent Moon joined the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars in the evening sky. A few clouds and the reflection of the evening sky in the lake added a bit of color to the scene.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky (with labels).
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky (with labels).
Screen capture from Stellarium.app showing the positions of the planets and Moon in the evening sky.
Screen capture from Stellarium.app showing the positions of the planets and Moon in the evening sky.

Afterwards, I stayed around to watch the rocket launch described in the previous post.

A Slim Crescent Moon

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The new Moon occurred a few days ago and just 23 hours later there was a thin (0.9% illuminated) crescent Moon visible in the evening twilight sky. I’ve been practicing with a recently acquired telephoto lens and this was another opportunity to have some fun with the lens.

A thin crescent Moon visible in the evening twilight sky.
A thin crescent Moon visible in the evening twilight sky.
The crescent Moon sinks lower in the sky.
The crescent Moon sinks lower in the sky.

Both of these images are crops from the original.