Newest New Moon in Earthshine - 2019 Total Solar Eclipse
The New Moon phase is defined as the instant when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At that time, the Moon is located between Earth and the Sun, and its illuminated surface is pointed away from Earth. Thus, the lunar disk is not visible to the unaided eye, except when silhouetted during a solar eclipse.
In the case of a total solar eclipse, the Moon's entire disk appears as a featureless, black orb silhouetted by the Sun's corona. But long exposure photography reveals the familiar features of the Moon's surface (mare, bright craters, and rays), which are illuminated in Earthshine (sunlight reflected off Earth and lighting up the otherwise dark face of the Moon). Earthshine (sometimes called ashen light) was first explained by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century.
It is only because of Earthshine, that the Moon's face can be seen at the New Moon phase during a total solar eclipse, making it the newest of New Moons.
The image above captures New Moon surrounded by the grossly overexposed solar corona during the total solar eclipse of 2019 July 02. It was made using a Vixen 90mm Fluorite refractor and a Nikon D850 DSLR.
This image is available as a Custom Print.
Additional eclipse photos can be seen at: 2019 Total Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery.
For more information on this event, see: EclipseWise 2019 Total Solar Eclipse.
Technical Details
- Title: Newest New Moon in Earthshine - 2019 Total Solar Eclipse
- Date/Time: 2019 Jul 02 at 20:40 UTC
- Eclipse Circumstances: Altitude = 13°, Azimuth = 307°, HA = 3.88
- Location: Mamalluca Observatory, Vicuna, CHILE
- Mount: Orion AstroView German Equatorial Mount
- Telescope: Vixen 90mm Fluorite Refractor (90mm, f/9, fl=810mm)
- Camera: Nikon D850
- Exposure: 2.5 seconds, f/9, ISO 250
- File Name: TSE2019-Earthshine2w.jpg
- Processing (Adobe Camera Raw): Shadow Adjustment, Clarity, Sharpening, Noise Reduction
- Processing (Adobe Photoshop CC2017): Curves, Layers
- Rights: Copyright 2019 by Fred Espenak. All Rights Reserved. See: Image Licensing.
