Lunar Occultation

April 03, 2003

Gs-occult21

Provided by: Geoff Sims
Summary authors & editors: Geoff Sims

Taken early one morning, just an hour and a half prior to sunrise, as the thin crescent Moon rose, I was able to photo the 2.8th magnitude star Lambda-Sagittarii re-appear from behind the Moon's dark limb. Earthshine is clearly visible in each shot of the sequence. Unfortunately, I could not capture the first half (star disappearing) as it occurred too close to the horizon. The photo is a multiple exposure sequence on a single frame of film (nOT a computer composite), and the lens was simply covered up when not in use. The first photo in the sequence was the lowest one, and the final shot the highest one. So, the Moon's motion due to the Earth's rotation is UP AND LEFT, and the Moon's motion due to its orbit around the Earth is DOWN AND RIGHT.

TECHNICAL PHOTO DETAILS:
Date: 30th January, 2003
Time: 4:30am - 4:55am
Location: Sydney, Australia
Camera: Olympus OM-1 with 200mm lens
Film: Fuji Reala 100
Exposures: 6 exposures, each 5 seconds at f/4, and each 5 minutes apart

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