Night Sky Photography -- 01-01-2026 -- The Full Wolf Moon & Jupiter

 

Good evening fellow stargazers!

The first Full Moon of the year 2026 -- the Full Wolf Moon here in North America -- is also the first supermoon of the year. Our beautiful Luna was at her perigee (the Moon's closest point to Earth in its orbit)  at 225,130 miles (362,312 kilometers) away, making it appear significantly larger and brighter than usual.

In the evening sky it rose in the east along with Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter is also really close to Earth in its orbit around the Sun. The large planet will reach its closest point for the year on Friday, January 9th, when it reaches opposition (when Earth passes between Jupiter and the Sun) will be about 393 million miles (633 million km) away, making it exceptionally bright and visible pretty much all month long. 

Jupiter is very close in the night sky to the twin stars Pollux and Castor in the Constellation Gemini the Twins and will continue to be throughout the month of January.

The following are the photos I took on the evening of January 3rd of the meeting between all of these heavenly bodies....including capturing three of Jupiter's moons: Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede just visible in the photographs. These include closeups of the Full Wolf Supermoon, and a lovely shot through the trees with my U.S. Flag in the foreground.

Night Sky Photography -- 11-15-2024 -- The Super Full Beaver Moon & The Pleiades

Good evening, fellow Stargazers!

In the Northern Hemisphere the full moon is called the Beaver Moon and its the last full moon of the autumn season before the winter solstice.

This year's Full Beaver Moon is the fourth and last supermoon of 2024 at a distance of about 225,000 miles (or 361,867 km) from the Earth.

As an extra special bonus this year, the Super Full Beaver Moon aligns with the Pleiades Star Cluster with the two appearing about just over half-a-degree apart in the evening sky as seen from the surface of the Earth. The Pleiades are actually about 444.2 light-years (or 136.2 parsecs) distance from our Solar System.

The following are the photos I took of the Super Full Beaver Moon with the nearby Pleiades Star Cluster.

The first photo being a close-up shot of the our lovely Luna with every dark "sea" and large surface feature visible.

The second is a wider unfiltered view of the full moon with the nearby Pleiades showing just outside of Luna's glare.

The final show showing the Super Full Beaver Moon and Pleiades with several nearby bright stars including the red-giant star, Aldebaran, in the Constellation Taurus and the large bright star, Capella, in the Constellation Auriga. Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System, can be seen rising just below between the tops of the trees.

I hope y'all enjoyed my photos and I hope to have some more soon. Till next time have a good evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 09-29-2023 -- The Full Super Harvest Moon & The Outer Planets

Good morning fellow Stargazers!

Early this morning I was awake to capture some great shots of four of the largest outer planets in our Solar System in the night sky dome with the final Supermoon of 2023.

The first Full Moon after the fall equinox is most famously called the Harvest Moon in North America. Because its also the last of four Supermoons of the year, its also the Full Super Harvest Moon. The last Supermoon is roughly around 224,658 miles (or 361,552 km) from Earth and appears about 5% bigger and about 13% brighter than the average full moon.

The Harvest Moon of 2023 sits between the planets Uranus and Jupiter to the east, and Neptune and Saturn to the west. Jupiter and Saturn are easy to spot in the clear skies, but Uranus and Neptune -- which are close to Jupiter and Luna respectively -- I highlighted when I labeled my photos.

I hope y'all enjoyed my final night sky and planetary photos of the month of September and the first ones of the fall season here in North America respectively. Looking forward to next month and my favorite holiday of the year.

Night Sky Photography -- 08-31-2023 -- The Super Blue Moon & Orion Stars In Early Morning Hours

Good morning, fellow stargazers!

Today I had to wake up extra early -- about just over 90 minutes before sunrise in fact -- to capture my photographs of the second Full Moon and third Supermoon of August, 2023: the Blue Supermoon, or Super Blue Moon.

The reason I had to wait till the early hours to take the shots was due to extensive cloud cover from summer thunderstorms brought about as a result of the recent hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully those storms moved off about 5 AM Eastern Standard Time (EDT) and gave way to perfectly clear early morning skies, as you can see in my first shot.

Currently, the Super Blue Moon is 222,043 miles (or 357,344 kilometers) from the Earth, making it the closes of the four Supermoons this year -- which is why I was thankful to be able to capture some great photos of it.

The next two photos are close-up of the features of the Super Blue Moon showing all the larger craters and the dark gray "seas" on the visible Lunar surface that we see here on the Earth.

My final Full Moon photo is a wider shot of the Super Blue Moon along with the planet Saturn just above the tree lines.

Since I was up so early I turned my camera to the eastern sky where the Constellation Orion The Hunter was making his way back into the early morning sky.

In my final two photos I was able to capture all the major stars of Orion, as well as the nearby bright stars Aldebaran and Procyon.

That concludes my night sky offerings for the month of August 2023. I hope y'all enjoyed my photos as I continue to enjoy posting them for y'all.

Have a wonderful Dixie Day and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies.

Night Sky Photography -- 08-01-2023 -- The First Of Two Supermoons In August 2023!

Good evening, y'all!

Last night, after several nights of the surprise hit-and-run rainstorms common for summers down her in my corner of Dixie, and overcast skies, we finally managed to have clear semi-clear skies....and just in time for the first of two full moons in the month of August, 2023.

This year both this evening's Full Sturgeon Moon -- the name for the August full moon in North America -- and the Blue Moon of Wednesday, August 30th are Supermoons!

This evening, the Full Sturgeon Supermoon is approximately 222,158 miles (or, 357,530 km) from the Earth.

In the wider night sky shot you can also see the planet Saturn near the Full Moon. I thought the moonlight with the nearby clouds came out quite beautifully with the giant ringed planet a small, bright dot nearby. Saturn is currently 820,817,683 miles (1,320,978,013 kilometers, or 8.8 AUs) from the Earth. Saturn is currently located inside the Constellation Aquarius.

Saturn will also be present with the Blue Supermoon on August 30th and appear much closer. I'm praying for clear skies so that I can photograph them that evening.

Night Sky Photography -- 07-03-2023 -- The First Of Four Full Summer Supermoons!

Good evening, fellow Stargazers!

Now that we're finally into the glorious summer months of 2023, we're going to be treated to a grand total of four full supermoons over the course of the next three months! 

A supermoon is a full moon that occurs when our beautiful moon is closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit at the same time when its on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.

On average, the Moon rotates around the Earth at a distance of about 238,900 miles (or, 384,472 km). Starting tonight on July 2nd, the Moon will be close to the Earth at a distance of 224,895 miles (or, 361,934 km).

Here is the photo I took of the rising July full supermoon at about 11:00 PM EST. The July full moon is also known as the Full Buck Moon here in North America.

The haziness of the photo is the unfortunate result of slightly overcast skies and the smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifting down from up north to my little corner of the United States. All the same the features of the Man-In-The-Moon can be easily made out. I was also unable to capture the moon with any background features to put it into scale, but our lovely Luna did appear slightly larger than normal.

If you were unable to see the full supermoon this time around for whatever reason, don't worry. Y'all will be getting three more chances over the rest of the summer of 2023 -- and those will actually be closer than this one!

The next full supermoon will be on the night of Tuesday, August 1st when the Moon will be approximately 222,158 miles (or, 357,530 km) from the Earth. God willing far less hazy conditions and clearer skies will afford me the chance to capture a clearer image for y'all to enjoy.

Till then, have a wonderful evening, y'all!

Night Sky Photography -- 08-12/13-2022 -- Full Supermoon & Saturn Near Opposition

Greetings Fellow Stargazers!

Last night and early this morning we were blessed with clear skies finally, and just in time to catch the tail-end of the final Supermoon of 2022!

The August Full Moon -- also known as the Full Sturgeon Moon in North America -- is the final of the four Supermoons of 2022 which began in May and continued throughout the summer months.

In actuality, our lovely Luna achieved its full moon phase officially overnight between Thursday, August 11th and Friday, August 12th, however cloud cover and South Carolina's weird summer weather prevented me from actually capturing the full disk. Tonight's photo actually shows the nearly full supermoon at about 99.8% but still close enough to get the idea and see all of the surface features of the full moon.

The Full Sturgeon Supermoon was at its closest to the Earth on the early morning of August 12th at approximately 224,569 miles (361,409 km).

You can also see the full supermoon is between the large superior planets: Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn is very close it its opposition to the Earth -- when the Earth is between the Sun and Saturn. That officially occurs on the evening of Sunday, August 14th. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos of that event, weather permitting.

Night Sky Photography -- Closest Supermoon Of The Year!

On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, the closest Full Supermoon to appear in our night sky this year was approximately 222,089 miles (or 357,418 km) from the Earth.

The July full moon is also know as the Full Buck Moon in North America because of this is about the time that male deer's antlers are in full growth according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

Tonight's supermoon -- also known as the Full Buck Supermoon -- was the third of four that will appear in the night sky throughout the summer months this year.

The following are the photos I took of the Full Buck Supermoon.

The first one is the close up of the Full Supermoon with all the features of the Man On The Moon clearly visible to the naked eye. In the second photo you can see that the moon does not appear closer on visual inspection.

The moonlight in the somewhat cloudy sky -- it had been raining earlier and I was worried I wouldn't be able to take a proper photo -- does reflect the light beautifully in almost a rainbow colored pattern. Nearby is the bright star, Altair, the brightest star in the Constellation Aquila the Eagle and the twelfth-brightest star in our night sky.

Night Sky Photography -- 06-14-2022 -- Full Strawberry Supermoon & Constellation Scorpius

Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, June 14th I was able to capture some really good shots of the second of four supermoons for 2022, along with the red star Antares and some of stars of the Constellation Scorpius The Scorpion in the southern horizon.

My first photo shows the full supermoon close to the Antrares -- The Heart of the Scorpion -- in the southern sky. In my second photo I outlined the visible stars of the Constellation Scorpius as it appeared above the tree tops. And my final photo is a closeup of the full supermoon itself showing the details of the visible features of the Moon itself.

The June full moon is known as the Strawberry full moon in the Northern Hemisphere -- making this the Strawberry Supermoon! There will still be two more supermoons in the next two months of the summer of 2022.

Night Sky Photography -- 05-16-2022 -- Full Flower Supermoon & Supermoons Of 2022

Good evening fellow stargazers!

The evening after Sunday's Full Supermoon Lunar Eclipse I was able to capture a glorious shot of the Full Flower Supermoon -- the first of four Full Supermoons throughout the summer months this year -- just over the treetops in the eastern sky.

The moon is completely full and all the dark "seas" that make up the visible features of the Man On The Moon can be easily seen with the tree branches in foreground. Tycho Crater, the largest crater visible to the Earth on the Moon's surface is clearly visible.

Supermoons happen when the Moon reaches its perigee -- the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is closest to Earth. The Full Moon appears slightly larger than a typical full moon due to it being closer to Earth. To a casual observer a supermoon can appear much brighter and about 10 to 15 percent larger than an average full moon.

The term supermoon was coined by American astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 while reading the book Strategic Role Of Perigean Spring Tides in Nautical History and Coastal Flooding published in 1976 by NOAA Hydrologist Fergus Wood and specifies that the Moon must be within 90% of perigee.

NASA graphic showing the size difference between the Moon at
Perigee (Supermoon) and Apogee (Micromoon) when the Moon
is farther away in its orbit of Earth.

There are actually two different types of supermoons: Full Supermoons and New Supermoons.

The New Supermoons, like any other New Moon, aren't visible from Earth in the night sky depending on your particular time zone. There were two of them earlier this year in January and February, and one more this December -- making seven supermoons for 2022.

Now if one was going by the specific definition of a supermoon -- when the Moon is the closest to the Earth in its orbit at perigee -- then the true supermoon for 2022 will occur on July 13th this year.

The following are the names and dates of the Supermoons of 2022, as well as the distance of the Moon from the Earth during each one:

Full Supermoons of 2022

Full Flower Moon -- May 16th -- 225,013 miles (362,127 km)
Full Strawberry Moon -- June 14th -- 222,238 miles (357,658 km)
Full Buck Moon -- July 13th -- 222,089 miles (357,418 km)
Full Sturgeon Moon -- August 11th -- 224,569 miles (361,409 km)

New Supermoons of 2022

New Wolf Moon -- January 2nd -- 222,478 miles (358,044 km)
New Snow Moon -- February 1st -- 226,493 miles (364,505 km)
New Cold Moon -- December 23rd -- 223,701 miles (360,013 km)

I hope to be able to capture a good image of the Full Buck Supermoon later this summer, when our lovely Luna will be at her closest approach to our beautiful Earth in the evening sky. 

Until next time have a wonderful evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!

Full Flower Supermoon Lunar Eclipse 05-15/16-2022

A very good evening and salutations to y'all!

Tonight is a glorious night for us amateur stargazers and night sky enthusiasts with the arrival of the Lunar Eclipse here in North America. This will be an extra special treat since tonight's full moon is a supermoon!

A supermoon happens when the moon reaches its perigee -- or closest point to the Earth in a month -- coinciding with either the Full Moon or New Moon. Tonight our beautiful Luna is approximately 225,015 miles (362,127 km) from the Earth in its orbit.

There will actually be four Full supermoons this year beginning in May and continuing throughout the summer months. The closest of these supermoons will take place on the evening of Wednesday, July 13, 2022 when the moon will be approximately 222,089 miles (357,418 km) from Earth in its orbit.

May's full moon is known in North America as the Full Flower Moon, making tonight's lunar eclipse the Full Flower Supermoon Lunar Eclipse.

I was a bit concerned about cloud cover since it was partly cloudy all day today, but thankfully as the evening and night progressed the skies began to clear up -- thank you Lord!

Graphic depicting the Earth's shadows during the Lunar Eclipse.

The lunar eclipse began here in South Carolina at exactly 9:32 PM EST when the lighter part of the Earth's shadow began to cross over the Moon. This part is known as the Penumbra Eclipse. The penumbra is the partial shadow of the Earth across the Moon and its so light that its barely noticeable to the naked eye.

At exactly 10:28 PM EST, our lovely Luna then crossed into the umbra -- the darker part of the shadow of the Earth across the Moon. This is when the darkening of the Moon's surface becomes noticeably visible.

For the next hour the dark shadow of the Earth continued to cross the face of the Moon until reaching totality at about 11:30 PM EST. The following are the photos I took of the progressive darkening and then reddening of the Moon.

The Full Lunar Eclipse reached its peak at 12:12 AM EST on Monday, May 16th with the darkest center part of the Earth's shadow completely covering the face of the Moon blocking out all reflecting sunlight. This is referred to at the totality of the eclipse, which lasted about 85 minutes from 11:30 PM EST to 12:54 AM EST.

The Full Flower Supermoon Lunar Eclipse began at about 9:30 PM EST and ends at 2:50 AM EST on Monday, May 16th; a total time of about 5 hours and 20 minutes. It was a wonderful heavenly show to behold and I was thankful to be able to share the experience with y'all this evening.

Have a wonderful night and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-20-2019 -- Spring Equinox & The Super Full Worm Moon

Good evening fellow night sky watchers!

The Vernal Equinox (spring equinox) arrived on Wednesday, March 20 at exactly 5:58 p.m. EST (EDT) in South Carolina, USA. This signals the changing of the seasons around the globe, marking the transition from winter to spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the flip from summer to autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. The equinox occurs when the Earth tilts and the sun's rays fall directly on the equator, making day and night roughly the same exact length across the globe.

The March full moon ushers in the first full moon of spring for the Northern Hemisphere, coming less than four hours after the start of the spring equinox. 

This is the closest coincidence of a full moon with the March equinox since March 2000. The full moon and March equinox won’t happen less than one day apart again until March 2030.

Supermoons appear slightly bigger and brighter than normal full moons to most people. If you happen to catch the moon just after it has risen in the east, around sunset, the moon does appear much larger. This has less to do with the supermoon than it does from a psychological effect known as the moon illusion. 

 

One of the things about early spring here in upstate South Carolina that can be a bummer for stargazers are the mostly cloudy evenings. Thanks to these cloudy evenings I was unable to capture a good shot of the third and final supermoon of 2019 at moonrise. 

However, I was able to get a really beautiful shot later on in the evening when the skies cleared of the full moon through some beautiful spring blooms -- which I thought was an especially nice touch for the first full moon of spring. The second shot is a closeup of Luna and its surface. Both were taken around 10 PM EST on Thursday, March 21st.

 

The next supermoon is not set to rise until Wednesday, February 9, 2020. 

Here are a couple of neat little details about this particular full moon.

The March full moon in the Northern Hemisphere is called the Full Worm Moon. At this time of the year, the ground begins to soften enough for earthworm casts to reappear, inviting birds to feed. Roots start to push their way up through the soil and the Earth experiences a re-birth as flowers begin to bloom -- though due to the effects of climate change the latter has happened a little early this year.

Another alternative name for the March full moon is the Full Sap Moon, as this is the time of year when the sap of sugar maples starts to flow -- that is mostly a call out to our Yankee friends up in Vermont.

Another really cool fact is that, by tradition, Easter Sunday normally occurs on the first Sunday following the full moon. The interesting little fact about this Supermoon is that it falls on the first official day of spring; but according to ecclesiastical rules set by the Church, the Spring equinox is fixed on March 21, so that places this year’s Easter on Sunday, April 21, 2019. April's full moon occurs on this year's Good Friday, April 19th.  

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos and fun facts about this year's Super Full Worm Moon. Have a Wonderful Dixie Day and y'all remember to keep looking to the night skies.

Night Sky Photograhy -- 01-30/31-2018 -- The Super Blue Blood Moon

Well folks, this month ends on a high note when it comes to astronomical events -- a Super Blue Blood Moon. 

On the evening of Tuesday, January 30th, the second Full Moon of the month rose just over the treetops. The second of two full moons in a calendar month is referred to as a Blue Moon, even though the moon does not technically change color. The January 31 full moon is also the third in a series of three straight full moon supermoons, or super-close full moons that I mentioned in a previous post. It’s the first of two Blue Moons in 2018, the next one will appear on March 31st.

These are the shots I took of the Super Blue Moon. I was able to get some good details, including the "Man in the Moon" and the larger craters.

 

On an interesting note, the month of February this year will have NO FULL MOON!

Luna was then partially eclipsed early the next morning on Wednesday, January 31st by the Earth's shadow across its surface. A Lunar Eclipse is also referred to as a Blood Moon, because of the deep red shadow effect across the surface. 

This trifecta of a supermoon, a blue moon, and a blood moon, are referred to as a rare Super Blue Blood Moon. 

In South Carolina, we could only see part of the Lunar Eclipse because of the position of the moon and sun, however I did manage to get a couple of pretty good shots of what we did see here in Chester County and the rest of the upstate. Only the upper left of the moon is covered in deep Earth shadow.

Folks, once again I am thankful to the Good Lord for clear skies and pleased to share these outstanding photos for y'all to enjoy. Please let me know what y'all think in the comments section below. Until next time, keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all.