September 22, 2024
A Month of Luck
Originally published April 30, 2014
image by György Soponyai, Budapest, Hungary
This January my first solar analemma project was completed at the bank of river Danube in Budapest, Hungary. I decided to go on with this project by trying to capture the lunar analemma curve standing at the same location. I expected photographing the Moon during a whole Lunar month would require at least one or two years due to the terrible astro climate of my country, however the previous month I enjoyed the biggest luck in my life with the clouds.
The Moon needs 27.3 days for completing a revolution around the Earth (sidereal month) and completing a lap in the analemma curve. But the period of lunar phases are two days longer: Full Moons occur every 29.5 days (synodic month). By inspecting this image the difference between sidereal- and synodic month is evident: in every point of the analemma curve the Moon has different phases in different laps. In the foreground are an office building, the Hungarian National Theater, the Palace of Arts and the Eastern pillar of Rákóczi Bridge. This part of the river is frequently used by sight-seeing vessels to turn back north towards the city center. I chose this foreground photo as the wave of the turning ship slightly resembles the mirrored curve of the Analemma.
György Soponyai
Technical Details
Moon photos taken between 2014-03-15 and 2014-04-15 every 24 hours 50 minutes and 48 seconds.
Foreground image: 2013-04-09 Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Carl Zeiss Distagon 28/F2.8, F5.6, 1sec, ISO 200
Related Links
Anthony Ayiomamitis' lunar analemmas
Yesterday's LPOD: A New Classic
Tomorrow's LPOD: Memorializing Observations
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