Moon Phases Mosaic - 5x3
As the Moon orbits Earth, its changing geometry with the Sun produces its characteristic phases (New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon and Last Quarter). One orbit of the Moon with respect to the Sun (synodic month) has a mean duration of 29.53 days .
The composite image above is a mosaic made from 15 individual photos of the Moon and illustrates its phases over the synodic month. The individual images included in the mosaic can be found in the Moon Phases Gallery.
Technical Details
- Subject: Moon Phases Mosaic - 5x3
- Dates: 2010 Feb 16 to 2010 Apr 12
- Location: Bifrost Astronomical Observatory, Portal, AZ
- Telescope: Astro-Physics 130EDF APO Refractor (130mm, f/5.9, fl=770mm) + Tele Vue 2X Powermate
- Mount: Astro-Physics 1200GTO
- Camera: Nikon D90
- Exposure: 1/8s to 1/250s, f/12, ISO 400
- File Name: Phases10-5x3w.jpg
- Processing: Cropping, Curves, Unsharp Mask, Layers (Photoshop CS5)
- Rights: Copyright 2012 by Fred Espenak. All Rights Reserved. See: Image Licensing.
Phases of the Moon
The links below are tables that give the dates and times of the Moon's phases (New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon and Last Quarter) for five time zones throughout the 21st Century.