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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Tonight’s Moon

Jennifer, what’s with this green crescent that is not visible to the naked eye?

green_moon.jpg

green_moon_2.jpg

green_moon_close.jpg

posted by michael at 7:31 pm  

10 Comments »

  1. Nice job. Since I JUST looked at the pictures that Lew took of the exact same thing, I’m quite sure the green is an artifact of your particular camera. (I do wish I had last night’s moon and Venus; the crescent was smaller and Venus closer; I suspect the Earthshine was slightly more impressive and the lunar details clearer.)

    Comment by jennifer — March 21, 2007 @ 8:09 pm

  2. Lew said the green in your third photo is not green cheese but chromatic aberration; you see it in photos with intense contrast. The first two are internal reflections; we think they are symetric about the center point of the original photo … did you crop the second one?

    Comment by jennifer — March 21, 2007 @ 8:13 pm

  3. Oh, I forgot to say — Lew’s photos didn’t come out better; he had different problems.

    Comment by jennifer — March 21, 2007 @ 8:14 pm

  4. You have stumbled onto a little known secret of the solar system. Those green crescents are the hidden habitats of the Zorg, the visitors from Epsilon Eridani who have been observing us for the last few centuries from lunar orbit. The crescents are only visible using cameras with special optics installed on a select few destined for the super-secret censored. You have received your camera in error. Send it posthaste to the Office of Homeland Security, where it will be used to identify the non-patriots among the citizenry.

    Comment by rakkity — March 21, 2007 @ 10:19 pm

  5. I’m going with rakkity’s response because I’d already come up with the exact same scenario.

    I love that smiley moon. The night before, the star was above it.

    Comment by michael — March 22, 2007 @ 7:04 am

  6. The night befor last I was admiring the same celestial delights myself, and when I showed the moon and Venus (the bright “star”) to Beth, she asked, “Is that unusual?” I answered, “Only the green crescent, hovering to the south.”

    Comment by rakkity — March 22, 2007 @ 9:53 am

  7. Well, I’d go with rakkity’s response because he is, after all, the astronomer. Or was that astrologer?

    So, rakkity, you can see the green crescent with the naked eye? You and Beth both? Way to go!!

    Comment by jennifer — March 22, 2007 @ 7:28 pm

  8. Hello? This is so … two days ago. Everything ok out there?

    Comment by jennifer — March 23, 2007 @ 4:55 pm

  9. It’s a UV filter problem.

    Comment by michael — March 23, 2007 @ 9:15 pm

  10. Spoilsport.

    Comment by rakkity — March 26, 2007 @ 1:24 pm

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