Half Illuminated Sun
April 28, 2013
Photographer: Patric Benedetti
Summary Authors: Patric Benedetti; Jim Foster
The photo above showing what appears to be the Cheshire grin of the Moon was taken near Lessinia, Verona, Italy, on February 28, 2013. In fact, it's not the Moon at all but rather a slice of the Sun as observed through the morning mist. A blanket of relatively warm air over the snow pack resulted in the foggy conditions. It just so happened that the upper portion of the Sun was tucked behind the evaporating, but still optically thick fog. Because of the effects of multiple scattering of fog droplets, if a layer of fog is just several meters thick, it can completely obscure the solar disk.
Photo details: Camera Model: Canon PowerShot SX210 IS; Focal Length: 31.758mm; Aperture: f/5.0; Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320); ISO equiv: 80; Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows.