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 of the full moon below was taken at the minimum perigee for 2010. For an alternate version which illustrates subtle detail and form, click here.

Image Details
Perigee Full Moon 2010
Imaging Details
Body:
Moon

Mass:
0.0123 x Earth

Mean Eq Diameter:
0.2719 x Earth

Distance:
356,790 km

Sidereal Rev:
27d 07h 43m 11s

Age:
14d 09h 16m

Phase:
99.8°

Diameter:
34.06'

Magnitude:
-12.6

Light Time:
0h 0m 1.2s

Rukl:
N/A
Date:
Jan 30, 2010
00:31:28 UT+2


Location:
Athens, Greece

Equipment:
AP 160 f/7.5 StarFire EDF
AP 1200GTO GEM
Canon EOS 350D
Baader UV/IR-Cut Filter


Exposure(s):
1 x 1/320 sec
ISO 100
RAW image format
3456x2304 image size
Manual Mode


Software:
Digital Photo Pro V2.1.1.4
Photoshop CS2


Processing:
RAW to TIFF (16-bit) Conv
Desaturation
Cropping
Brightness/Contrast
Levels
Unsharp Masking
Resampling
JPG Compression