Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory photo ambassador, a member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical skyscapes that connect Earth and the night sky. Join Claro here as he takes us through his photograph "A Full Moon Above the Medieval Village of Monsaraz."
The full "Pink Moon" of April 29 adorns the daytime sky over the medieval village and castle of Monsaraz in this photo taken in Portugal's Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve.
During this full moon, the sun shared the sky with Earth's natural satellite for about 20 minutes after moonrise and before sunset. While moonlight alone is hardly bright enough to illuminate a landscape, the setting sun cast light on entire fields of spring flowers, olive trees and vineyards (which are very typical for that region), allowing observers to enjoy the full moon and Earth's scenery at the same time. [The Moon: 10 Surprising Facts]
To create the illusion that the moon appears unusually large compared to the objects on Earth, I just had to find the right spot about 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) from the castle. At that distance and using a long camera lens, achieving this so-called "moon illusion" is simple and doesn't require any photo-editing software. For this photo, I shot using only a 600-millimeter (24 inches) lens.
Editor's note: Don't miss the full "Strawberry Moon" tonight (June 27)! If you captured an amazing astronomy photo and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or gallery, send images and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
To see more of Claro's amazing astrophotography, visit his website, www.miguelclaro.com. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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