You’ve probably noticed that the moon rises and sets later from one day (or night) to the next. I know it’s about 50 minutes by the clock, but what does that translate to in space? I had the chance to get an idea with two pictures.
The first I took on Saturday night. There was Venus and the moon hanging in the western sky.
I was hoping for a cloudless Sunday evening. I wanted to compare the positions of Venus and the moon. How much closer would they be?
In the second shot, the moon was so brilliant that it “bloomed.” It was only the second evening since the new moon, and only a tiny crescent was illuminated. Against a very dark sky it was too much contrast.
Here’s a fully zoomed-in shot of Sunday night’s moon. I only resized this shot and made no other changes.
The camera does not handle the very high contrast all that well. Perhaps there’s a mode to help with that? I still have much to learn. (In many ways.)