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 a follow-up to other similar efforts involving the rising (full) moon near dusk and against well-known landmarks in Greece including archaeological grounds (see here). Such an exercise requires careful planning and execution so that the azimuth and altitude of the rising moon match precisely with the foreground landmark of interest. Also important is the time during late afternoon that such an attempt is executed, for one requires balanced lighting between the foreground landmark and the bright rising (full) moon. Once all of these factors are available simultaneously with respect to lighting balance (full moon and landmark foreground) as well as azimuth and altitude, a result such as the one below involving the Church and Monestary of Agios Sotirios is realized.

The effort below involving the rising full moon was taken a few kilometers from the seaside resort area of Oropos northeast of Athens and whose history dates to the time of the golden age of ancient Greece. The foreground is the Church and Monestary of Agios Sotirios which lies atop a mountain and at an altitude of approximately 345 meters (1000 feet). The photo below as well as two other photos from the same session (click here and here) were taken from a distance of 1230 meters away to the west of Agios Sotirios so as to yield a balance in the aspect ratio involving the foreground church and rising full moon as well as to provide the ideal azimuth and altitude for these photos to be possible.

A dramatic sunset sequence involving the Church of Agios Sotirios was captured three days earlier from a distance of 2305 meters away and approximately 180 degrees in the opposite direction (see here, here and here).

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


Image Details
Ecumenical Full Moon I
Imaging Details
Body:
Moon

Mass:
0.0123 x Earth

Mean Eq Diameter:
0.2719 x Earth

Distance:
387,276 km

Sidereal Rev:
27d 07h 43m 11s

Age:
15d 04h 03m

Phase:
99.6°

Diameter:
30.88'

Magnitude:
-12.5

Rukl:
N/A
Date:
Oct 04, 2009
18:59:31 UT+3


Location:
Oropos, Greece
(38.2716° N, 23.7847° E)


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


Exposure(s):
1 x 1/30 sec
ISO 100
RAW Image Format
4368x2912 Image Size
Manual Mode


Software:
Digital Photo Pro V1.6.1.0
Photoshop CS2


Processing:
RAW to TIFF (16-bit) conv
Resampling (18%)
JPG Compression