APOD: 2024 January 22 – Shadows of Mountain and Moon
Can the Moon and a mountain really cast similar shadows?
Yes, but the division between light and dark does not have to be aligned.
Pictured, a
quarter moon was captured above the
mountain Grivola in
Italy in early October of 2022.
The
Sun is to the right of the
featured picturesque landscape,
illuminating the right side of the
Moon in a
similar way that it illuminates the right side of the mountain.
This
lunar phase is called "
quarter"
because the
lit fraction visible from
Earth is one quarter of the entire lunar surface.
Digital post-processing of this single exposure gave both
gigantic objects more prominence.
Capturing the
terminator of this quarter moon in
close alignment
with nearly vertical mountain ridge required careful timing because the
Earth rotates once a day.