rogerg
07-11-2014, 08:22 PM
Hi all,
A couple of weeks ago I took off after work one Monday afternoon, drove two hours inland to dark skies and did a bunch of astrophotography. I camped the night and drove two hours back to work in the morning. It was an amazing night, but the highlight was definitely this absolutely amazing view of the moon setting on a perfectly flat western horizon!
I never thought watching the moon set could be so amazing!
I do not recall such an amazing view of the moon. The bright crescent moon descended towards the completely unobstructed flat western horizon. As it neared the horizon the brightness started to fade as bands of thin cloud passed in front. Very near the horizon the moon (by this stage appearing more like a totally eclipsed blood red moon) appeared to hang over the western horizon, oh so very slowly lowering as it dipped to the horizon. The view I was seeing of the Moon was clearly refracted over the horizon – distorted and squashed by the effects of refraction. It was amazing just how long the process took – how much the projection of the moon refracted through our atmosphere slowed and how long it hung there. In the end all that was left was the tip of the crescent, appearing almost as though a devils horn sticking up from the horizon.
Simply amazing. :thumbsup:
These were shot with:
- Canon 6D
- Megrez 80 SD (with Borg DGL & WO -violet vilter)
- Exposures ranged up to 10 seconds! very much like a lunar eclipse.
PS. The specs in the sky are not hot pixels, they're stars (being longer exposures).
A couple of weeks ago I took off after work one Monday afternoon, drove two hours inland to dark skies and did a bunch of astrophotography. I camped the night and drove two hours back to work in the morning. It was an amazing night, but the highlight was definitely this absolutely amazing view of the moon setting on a perfectly flat western horizon!
I never thought watching the moon set could be so amazing!
I do not recall such an amazing view of the moon. The bright crescent moon descended towards the completely unobstructed flat western horizon. As it neared the horizon the brightness started to fade as bands of thin cloud passed in front. Very near the horizon the moon (by this stage appearing more like a totally eclipsed blood red moon) appeared to hang over the western horizon, oh so very slowly lowering as it dipped to the horizon. The view I was seeing of the Moon was clearly refracted over the horizon – distorted and squashed by the effects of refraction. It was amazing just how long the process took – how much the projection of the moon refracted through our atmosphere slowed and how long it hung there. In the end all that was left was the tip of the crescent, appearing almost as though a devils horn sticking up from the horizon.
Simply amazing. :thumbsup:
These were shot with:
- Canon 6D
- Megrez 80 SD (with Borg DGL & WO -violet vilter)
- Exposures ranged up to 10 seconds! very much like a lunar eclipse.
PS. The specs in the sky are not hot pixels, they're stars (being longer exposures).