Cruise Ship Astronomy and Astrophotography by Gregory I. Redfern

Author:Gregory I. Redfern
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783030009588
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Viewing the Moon at Sea

The Moon at sea is a wonder to behold. It goes through its main phases of new, first quarter, full and last quarter each lunar month of 29.5 days. You can photograph the Moon as it goes through its phases. The Moon photographs well during lunar eclipses, but we will cover that in Chap. 10.

Your software will tell you the Moon’s phase, the Moon’s location in the sky, as well as when the Moon rises and sets, all of which is very important information. Your planisphere and star charts are of no value in providing information about these details. The Moon also will move approximately 12 degrees from night to night, moving west to east in the sky. The ship’s information channel or daily bulletin may have Moon information as well.

It will also appear higher and lower in the night sky depending on the time of year. As a rule of thumb the Moon will be at its highest in the night sky for the Northern Hemisphere in the fall and winter months, lowest in the night sky during the spring and summer months; the same holds true in the Southern Hemisphere, but remember that their seasons are opposite those of the Northern Hemisphere. Because you won’t be using a telescope at sea the Moon’s maximum or minimum height above the horizon really isn’t a concern. The Moon will always rise and set on the sea horizon, which is always a magic moment as you shall see.

As we discussed in Chap. 4 if you are deep down under in the Southern Hemisphere you will also notice that the Moon looks upside down compared to how it appears in the Northern Hemisphere and lingers much farther towards the northern horizon. This can be a bit disorienting when you experience it for the first time! But it does make for fascinating photographs, as you can see (Figs. 9.1 and 9.2).

Fig. 9.1Object viewed: Full Moon. (Image by the author)

Ship: Azamara Quest

Lens used: 55–200 mm at 200 mm f/5.6 DX and cropped

ISO : 1000

Exposure: 1/3200 second

Comment: Full Moon as seen off the coast of Australia. Moon is literally upside down for those used to seeing the Moon in the northern sky

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