The Moon:

Our closest companion in the Solar System has been with humanity since the very beginning, offering us both insights into the motion of the planets and poetic inspiration. The Moon has inspired religions, scientific theories, plays, and songs. As such, it is a mirror of human endeavor in both the arts and the sciences and acts as a symbol of their unification. Here are some of my favorite photos of the Moon taken either with my telescope or my phone. Enjoy!

A serene and diffuse full moon. The maria are clearly visible as dark patches. These are plains of dried lava remaining from billions of years of volcanic activity. However, the Moon is currently static. (January 1, 2018 )

Photo of a lunar eclipse from my rooftop. The hazy morning brought with it some clouds that obstructed the view. (January 31, 2018)

Here, the twilight zone between lunar day and night is visible as a rippling of crater rims and depressions in the surface. (May 25, 2018)

A crescent moon in the early morning still shows some of the features on the night side through Earthshine (when the dark side of the moon is illuminated by light reflecting off of the Earth’s surface). This effect is also seen in photos of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons, as their night side may often be subtly illuminated by their parent planet. (October 17, 2017)

The solar eclipse of 2017, as seen from New York! You can even see the roughness of the Moon’s surface stand out against the Sun. (August 21, 2017)

Another crescent moon, this time with lower exposure so the Earthshine effect is not visible. Instead, we can see some of the features slip onto this sliver of the Moon’s surface. (November 15, 2017)

By chance, a plane taking off in front of the Moon. (October 17, 2016)

In this shot through my telescope, the Moon sneaks behind The Hub, one of the tallest buildings in Brooklyn. (October 7, 2017)

A pock-marked and scarred Moon is clearly seen in this photo, where increased contrast reveals many subtle features such as ejecta and variations in brightness across the surface. (January 6, 2018)

A slight abstraction of the Moon creates a smear of the grey spectrum across a patch of the night sky. (November 8, 2017)

Here, the Moon looks over the world with a devilish grin, inaugurating a new day. (September 24, 2016)

A simple, perhaps unremarkable photo of the Moon that, to me, captures a quiet, eternal beauty. (December 30, 2017)

Another early morning crescent shot, here the Moon has a slight Earthshine and is accompanied by a spectrum of colors and a lonely cloud. (March 14, 2018)

A near-full Moon still tinted red while low in the sky skims by The Hub once again, this time behind some people’s balconies.