The March 5 “mini-Moon,” the apogee Moon, the most distant Full Moon of 2015. I processed this image with greatly enhanced vibrance, saturation and contrast to exaggerate the subtle differences in colour in the lunar maria, due to differences in the mineral content of the lava flows that formed the mare ~3.5 to 4 billion years ago. The relatively new impact crater, Tycho, is the bright area at bottom (south) on the luanr disk with bright splash rays emanating from the crater. I shot this with a TMB 92mm refractor with a 2x Barlow lens for an effective f-ratio of about f/12. This is a 1/125th second exposure at ISO100 with the Canon 60Da.
The March 5, 2015 “mini-Moon” rises over the Santa Rita Copper Mine, east of Silver City, New Mexico. This was the night of the farthest Full Moon of 2015, the apogee Moon. I caught the Moon as it was rising behind the Mine and the cliff formation known locally as the Kneeling Nun. This is a composite of a long 1-second exposure for the ground and sky and a short 1/13-second exposure for the Moon to preserve details in its disk, with the two exposures layered and masked in Photoshop. No colour alteration was applied to the Moon, though a Highlight recovery was applied to the Moon to bring out the dark mare areas. Both exposures at ISO 100 with the Canon 60Da and at 135mm lens at f/4.
The Full “Snow” Moon of February 3, 2015 rising over Silver City, New Mexico in the darkening twilight. Jupiter, near opposition, is visible to the left of the Moon. I shot this from the Boston Hill trailhead at Market Street and Highway 180 west of the city. The coppery Moon rises to the left of the Santa Rita Copper Mine, at the right of the image. This is a 4-panel panorama shot with the Canon 6D and 135mm Canon lens to cover the sweep of the horizon.
