The Moon

As seen from the Northern Hemisphere

Original photographs by Michael Myers

Contents:

Scroll down to see:

• Telescopic moon photos from new crescent through last quarter.
• A 3-1/2 week time-lapse movie of the phases of the moon.
• A movie of the moon setting through the telescope.
• What is a Blue Moon?
• See a rare Stellar Eclipse!
• The Man in the Moon, the Lady in the Moon and other illusions
• Is the moon really larger on the horizon?
• The Moon Below the Equator is upside down!
• Links to more of my photos

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Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image

Read about my lunar photo technique and my photo equipment.

A really new moon, only 6 hours old. This moon sets just after the sun.

The same moon, 24 hours later.

Another new crescent, but getting larger.

EarthShine: When the moon is new, the bright earth reflects back and illuminates the disk. This is often called, "Old moon in the new moon's arms."

A very cool Quicktime Animation(156K) of a new moon with earthshine setting behind some columns.

Here is a unique photo of a Jet Plane flying through the Earthshine. 8 second exposure, digital camera

A lucky shot of an airplane transiting the moon.

A digitally enhanced 6-day moon against the blue sky.

Here is a series taken on four consecutive evenings around first quarter. Note the changes from night to night.

Here are four more consecutive evenings from 7 to 10 days old.

MoonDriver is a cool program that uses these telescopic photos in high resolution to keep the current phase of the moon on your Windows desktop. Make it small or really big to see all the craters. MoonDriver is desktop art that you will enjoy for many moons! Download MoonDriver.

A 3-1/2 week time-lapse movie of the phases of the moon. (228K)

A 6-day moon, wide angle and close-up. Digital photos.

The next evening: a first quarter, or 7-day moon.

The next night, an 8-day moon. The smallest craters you can see are about 5 miles across.

Move your mouse over these images to see the changes in 24 hours.

A 9-1/2-day old moon.

A composite photo of the moon, Saturn, Venus and Jupiter taken on April 28, 2004. Here is a page with more photos of the planets.

After first quarter, just before sunset. The sky is still blue.

Here are two views of a 10 day old moon, taken moments apart. The second photo caught an airplane flying across it!

Here is a short real-time movie (518K) taken through a telescope. The movement demonstrates the rotation of the earth.

A 12-day moon, taken a day after the movie above. The bright deep crater is named Tycho. Digital image.

A 12.5 day moon, taken with more modern equipment.

A full moon is brilliant, but you don't see any craters. The full moon rises just as the sun sets.

A full moon rising behind a tree. Neat picture! Note how the moon appears flattened when it is close to the horizon.

A full moon rising behind a pine tree.

This is an exact full moon, taken just before an eclipse- You won't find one much rounder than this!

The Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the vernal equinox. This is reduced from a 32 Megapixel image. Here is the same photo next to a crop from the full-sized image.

The full moon next to Mars on December 23, 2007. This is a good illustration of the relative size of each. Mars is the red dot.

Move your mouse over this image to see the difference in 24 hours. The change around full moon is more subtle. The color difference is due to the atmosphere.

This moon is just 5 hours past full and you can already see some loss of roundness on the right side. Here is a link to more full moon photos.

A waning moon, 2 or 3 days past full.

A few days later. About a day before 3rd quarter at 4000mm. Look at the detail in those craters! Same moon as above, but a wider angle. A beautiful last quarter, which rises at midnight. Don't miss this one- the thumbnail doesn't do it justice. This moon is exactly 24 days, 12 hours old. A waning, 26 day old moon. These photos were taken at 5 am as the moon was rising. Moonrise over Cape Hatteras on the Atlantic Ocean. Lunar Eclipse Photos: A multiple exposure of a lunar eclipse Read how I took this picture Two photos from the February 20, 2008 Lunar Eclipse. The second photo shows Saturn (to the left) and Regulus (above) the moon. The Lunar Eclipse from August 28, 2007. Totality occurred as the moon was setting at sunrise. Here is a page with more eclipse photos from that morning. Here is an animation of the Lunar Eclipse on March 3, 2007. Here is a page of photos of the Lunar Eclipse on November 8, 2003.

What is a Blue Moon?

Stellar Eclipse

This is a rare lunar occultation of a bright star. The photo shows the star Regulus about to disappear behind the moon.

Here is an animation of this eclipse, made from original photos. Note how the star disappears when the dark edge of the moon moves in front of it.

The Man in the Moon and Other Illusions

Did you ever wonder how people can see different images on the face of the full moon?
Here is a page showing some of these images.

The Moon Below the Equator

Did you know that below the equator the moon is upside down and travels backwards ?
Yet you can still see the "man in the moon." Check out this page to see how.

Moon Fact: It is an optical illusion that the moon appears larger on the horizon than when it is high in the sky. If you place your thumb and index finger a pencil width apart and hold it at arm's length, you will always be able to fit the moon between them no matter where it is. It's simply a matter of perspective- the moon looks bigger next to a tree than when it is overhead and surrounded by black.

You'll never know what you might see on Halloween night. (Find out the source for this picture).

I'm curious...

See more of my photos

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