images by Anthony Ayiomamitis
The Sun’s rising point moves northward from winter toward summer, finally reaching its maximum point north at the summer solstice. The word solstice means standstill of the Sun, which reflects the fact that it stops moving north before starting to return south. The Moon goes through similar but more convoluted motions, but still reaches a standstill, which I, mingling Greek and Latin, here call Selenestice. Anthony, the magnificent imager of sky extremes, has captured the selenestice of September 2006, which is the greatest amount that Moon moves north (28.2° for Anthony’s location). The three images show the view eastward - can you tell it is one continuous landscape seen under different lighting - with north to the left. The left image is a series of exposures every 5 minute of Moonrise on September 15 when the Moon reached a maximum of +28 degrees above the ecliptic - a major lunar standstill. The similar right image was two weeks earlier when the Moon rose far to the south and reached only -29 degrees, and the center is Sunrise. The Moon in two weeks mimics - and exceeds - the yearlong range of rising and setting of the Sun. And do you notice that both the Sun standtill images and the lunar ones have the same background?
Technical Details:
Sept 3 and 15, 2006. Canon EOS cameras. The electrical wires were installed during the middle of the project before the Sept 15 solar and nighttime (left) images were taken! There goes the eastern sky.
More information from Anthony
Yesterday's LPOD: Science for the Moon
Tomorrow's LPOD: Hell Plain
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