The delicate play between light and shadow brilliantly reveals the surface of the moon in these images recently sent to Space.com.
Astrophotographer Miguel Claro of Lisbon, Portugal, captured the stunning photo one day before the moon reached "first quarter," with the disc 44-percent illuminated by the sun.
"In this phase, we could see a lot of craters due to the game of light and shadows on its surface," Claro told Space.com in an email. [More Stunning March Night Sky Photos by Stargazers]
Claro took the image on March 7 using Canon 50D and Maksutov telescope F=1250 mm, and a Vixen GP2 Photo Guider S tracking mount (ISO 1000; f/ 13.8; Exp: 1/80 sec. in 07/03/2014 at 23:08. Median Sum of 10 images in Maxim DL).
He also included an annotated version of the image, seen at a different angle. In this version, Claro changed the inverted position caused by the mirrors in his Maksutov telescope.
"It's very interesting to see the difference when we look at the same picture, but at a different angle," Claro wrote. "We can easily see some craters in the original captured position and others in the corrected inverted position."
To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo or video that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please send images and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
