Take It Easy

Photographer: Teresa Molinaro

Summary Author: Teresa Molinaro



For several years, I've been enjoying how, from my perspective, on the date of April 11, the Sun seems to get stuck on the top of Monte Cuccio, Italy, before it gently descends along the flanks of the mountain, setting between Cuccio and the peak to its right. Monte Cuccio, 3,455 ft (1,050 m) above sea level, overlooks the city of Palermo, from which it's clearly visible. Placing myself in the same position each year gives me the possibility to observe this eye-catching occurrence cyclically. 

Photo Details: Nikon D7500 camera; Nikkor 70-300mm lens; 1/2000 seconds exposure; f/22; ISO 100.

Monte Cuccio, Italy Coordinates: 38.1150, 13.2655

Related Links:

Equinoxal Crossover of the Spring Full Moon

Teresa's Website

Photographer: Meiying Lee

Summary Author: Meiying Lee

In addition to its northern lights and midnight sun, Norway is a land of amazing fjords and endless U-shaped valleys. The photo above features one such fjord in the Senja Islands, with the reflection of a green aurora off its surface.

The more than 1,000 fjords found along Norway's coast were shaped by glaciation. Over a period of several million years, the gouging action of glaciers created U-shaped valleys (lower left). When these valleys were flooded by ocean water, long, narrow inlets resulted, named fjords by Norwegians. Photo taken in early March 2025.

Photographer: Howard L. Cohen

Summary Author: Howard L. Cohen

Shown above is a composite image of the total lunar eclipse of March 13/14, 2025, illustrating various stages of this eclipse. Notice that the bottom center image shows the end of the eclipse with a bright colored glow around the Moon. This is a lunar corona, produced by mid-level clouds made of water droplets, causing the diffraction of moonlight. Observing this corona about the Moon as the eclipse ended was quite unexpected. Actually, during the end phase of the eclipse, these clouds made the once clear sky quite hazy, even hiding many bright stars. To photograph this phenomenon two exposures were used, one for the bright, nearly uneclipsed Moon and one for the fainter corona.



It should be pointed out that the lunar disk's color and brightness gradient during the eclipse are functions of the eye, camera, environmental conditions, and processing methods. Thus, eclipse images are often slightly different for different observers and photographers.



Photo Details: APO Refractor Telescope; Canon DSLR EOS 5D II camera; Tele Vue-76 lens; 76mm; f/6.3. Various exposures: two exposures for the Moon with corona; one for the Moon and one for the corona. Processing with Corel Paintshop Pro and Microsoft PowerPoint. Images trimmed from originals.

Suburbs of Gainesville, Florida Coordinates: 29.5686, -82.4376

Related Links:

Colors of a Total Lunar Eclipse

The Moon & Eclipses