July 21, 2006

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Lunar Addiction

copernicusjuly2006.jpg
image by Geoff Mitchell

I promised myself that I wouldn’t do it again. But like an addict who can’t stop I have used another image of Copernicus for LPOD. But can you blame me? This is such a classically evocative, even painterly, view of the Moon’s most imaged feature that I had to do it. Compare this image with the sketch that is the frontispiece of Edmund Neison’s The Moon (1876) to see what I mean. The reason Geoff’s image feels like a painting is the smoothness of tone on the rim terraces and the near ejecta. And the swath of brightness of the inner rim is like a visual impression painted on rather than a mere CCD capture of photons. Finally, the rapid fading toward the sunset terminator conveys the drama of a rapidly passing illumination that will soon change. How lucky we are that Geoff was there.

Chuck Wood

Technical Details:
19 July 206. 9.75″ f/6.3 newtonian + Atik 1 HS11 + x3 barlow + IR filter; 90/1000 frames

Related Links:
Rükl sheet 31
Geoff’s website

Yesterday's LPOD: Apollo 11 + 37 Years

Tomorrow's LPOD: Swept Away


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