Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Lunar Image Gallery - Scenic Phenomenon

Our closest celestial neighbour has kept us company for at least four billion years and has entertained our imagination in a variety of ways. It certainly has been involved in our maturation as a species with man's first step on a body beyond our planet during the latter part of the twentienth century and will, inevitably, be our first stop prior to any sort of manned travel to a further celestial body such as Mars. The moon has been a great source of education about our own planet's evolutionary history; it has entertained many inquisitive minds from earlier cultures and generations about the universe in general and man's role in particular; it has enriched the minds of young children taking their first look through a telescope and continues to impact our lives in ways we may or may not readily recognize including tidal forces and various natural rhythms and cycles.

Note: The image below is yet another effort and result whose purpose is to catch the rising and/or setting sun and moon against well-known landmarks in Greece. An earlier effort involving the rising full moon against the Parthenon (447-438 BC) in central Athens was realized in Oct/2007 when Luna was captured from Philopappou Hill and approximately 700 meters to the west of the Parthenon as well as a much longer distance effort and which involved the rising moon partially hidden by Mt Ymittos in Jan/2010. The result below was taken from an even greater distance so as to yield a much better aspect ratio between the rising perigee full moon and the Parthenon. The primary task in such an exercise is to identify the optimal time after sunset which yields a perfect balance between the bright full moon and the natural lighting of the archaelogical grounds. From a previous exercise involving the Temple of Poseidon, this was established to be approximately 25 minutes after sunset and, more specifically, when the sun has already set and is approximately four to six degrees below the horizon. Once the perspective of the Parthenon with respect to its physical azimuth and altitude from my shooting location southwest of the Parthenon was precisely reverse engineered, the final exercise involved the identification of the "proper" full moon during the calendar year which would simultaneously meet the above criteria with respect to lighting balance (full moon and archaeological grounds) as well as azimuth and altitude as closely as possible. The profile to the right of the Parthenon is Mt Ymittos which rises to approximately 1000 meters in height and is the highest of the seven mountains which surround Athens.

Note: For additional photos and time series from the same session below, click here and here.

Note: The full moon below is the smallest apogee full moon for 2011.

Note: For additional photos of the sun and/or full moon against other well-known Greek archaeological grounds and sites, please click here.


Image Details
Apogee Moon with the Acropolis
Imaging Details
Body:
Moon

Mass:
0.0123 x Earth

Mean Eq Diameter:
0.2719 x Earth

Distance:
406,423 km

Sidereal Rev:
27d 07h 43m 11s

Age:
15d 06h 45m

Phase:
99.9°

Diameter:
29.43'

Magnitude:
-12.6

Rukl:
N/A
Date:
Oct 12, 2011

Location:
Athens, Greece

Equipment:
Takahashi FSQ 106/f5
AP 2x Conv Barlow
Canon EOS 5D Mark I
Baader UV/IR-Cut Filter


Exposure:
1 x 1/13 sec
ISO 200
RAW Image Format
4368 x 2912 image size
Manual Mode


Software:
Digital Photo Pro V2.1.1.4
Photoshop CS2


Processing:
RAW to TIFF (16-bit)
Unsharp Masking
Resampling
JPG Compression