Photographer Spends 10 Years Capturing 48 Stunning Colors of the Moon
Italian primary school teacher Marcella Pace has always had a passion for astronomy. This has led her to pursue astrophotography and, over the years, she’s seen her work selected by NASA as an Astronomy Photo of the Day and has been shortlisted in the prestigious Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards. In particular, her image of 48 colorful moons has garnered her quite a bit of attention. The work pulls together 10 years’ worth of imagery and is a true sight to behold.
“During the lockdown, I spent quite a bit of time at home so I had a lot of time to look back through my old images,” Pace tells My Modern Met. “Looking back through my photos, I decided to pick out all the full moons that I’d photographed since I started using a digital camera. I chose the 48 most colorful, ones taken as the moon was rising or setting or when atmospheric scattering caused interesting coloration.”
So, while the final composite displays work done over 10 years, Pace is careful to note that it doesn’t actually take that long to photograph so many colors of the moon. In fact, in a recent photograph taken during moonrise, it’s possible to see all the different colors that it takes on as it makes its way up different layers of the atmosphere.
While many of Pace’s photographs have received praise, her colorful composite has, in particular, take on a life of its own. After being selected as a NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day in November 2020, it’s continued to circle the internet. “There’s something magnetic about the photo and I get daily compliments about it from around the world,” Pace says. “It’s really important to me that this photo carries a message of respect for all forms of life. To live in harmony we need to be aware that it’s not just fellow man that is our neighbor, but that all forms of life are on this eternal path with us. It’s a path that isn’t a circle with man at the center, but a spiral that is constantly evolving.”
150,000 Pictures of the Moon Show Its Different Colors
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy went viral a few weeks ago for creating a 51MP picture of the moon with 50,000 shots.
He just realized the same type of photo, but with 150,000 shots that, when put together, show the hidden colors on the moon’s surface.
The splashes of color each show the different minerals present on the surface.
“The color was already in that picture, hidden behind the glare of the moon’s albedo, and represents the mineral content of our moon,” McCarthy said.
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“While my previous images showed you the detail you could see if your eyes were sharper, this one shows you what the moon could look like if our eyes and brain were much more sensitive to color.”
McCarthy, who is also known for the composite photo of our entire solar system which he shot from his backyard, explained that the blue in the photo denotes a high titanium content, while orange huges represent low titanium content.
While this colored photo of the moon was not his first priority, he had enough shots from the 81MP composite picture of the moon to further explore the surface.
“Because I took so many shots to average out the blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence, as well as to eliminate noise captured by the camera sensor, the accuracy of the subtle coloration of the moon was incredibly high,” he said.
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All of these images were shot with the Orion XT10 telescope, a Skywatcher EQ6-R mount, one astronomy camera, and the Sony a7 II full-frame mirrorless camera.
McCarthy, who promotes AutoStakkert! almost nonstop because he uses it for nearly all of his composite images, also adjusted the saturation and contrast on the image to really make the colors pop.
You can purchase all of his prints here.
All photos by Andrew McCarthy, used with permission.
