Category: Moonrise

Whatever Weds. Celestial and Birds

Posted in Birds, Birds of North America, Moon, Moonrise, Photography, Whatever WednesdayTagged , , , , 33 Comments

Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

While birding last week I saw a Cassin’s Finch chick being fed by its parent and made several images of it. Unfortunately, they were facing me with the sun to their backs and in my face. So, the image isn’t great but, what is… is what I discovered once I uploaded my images.

Off to the right of the birds is a satellite flare. I think it’s a Starlink flare/glint which would be the first time I’ve photographed one of those.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

Regarding this next image- A friend had been sharing his images of the Moon several days ago with me so, the other evening when I saw the Moon shining out my living room window I was inspired to get up and photograph it.

Here’s the moon at 82.7% percent full. A waxing Gibbous Moon from July 6th.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

The bottom crater is Tycho. I really like its crusty textured bits. I know the other large crater off on the left below the Sea of Showers is the Copernicus Crater. I wish I didn’t need a poster to help me every single time with the other sea and crater names, but I do.

July’s Full Moon is called the Buck Moon. It also has several other names like Thunder Moon, and Hay Moon.

The Full Moon this month is July 10th.

Fun Facts:

This full moon coincides with a Major Lunar Standstill in 2025, making the moon appear especially low in the sky after sunset due to its orbital path and the recent summer solstice.

  • It will be the farthest full moon from the Sun in 2025, occurring shortly after Earth reached aphelion — the point in its orbit farthest from the Sun.
  • In some regions, such as India, the full moon coincides with Guru Purnima, a spiritually significant event, enhancing its cultural importance.
  • The Buck Moon gets its name from the Algonquin-speaking Native American tribes, as July is the time when male deer (bucks) begin to grow new antlers covered in velvet, symbolizing renewal and growth.

Fun facts gleaned from Space.com

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| Processed with Photoshop CC

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Waxing Gibbous Moon

Posted in Moon, Moonrise, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged , , , , , , , , , 35 Comments

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

97.7% Waxing Gibbous Moon and Clouds 3.23.2024

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.5.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Waxing Gibbous Moon

Posted in Moonrise, Nikon, Whatever WednesdayTagged , , , , , 45 Comments

Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Last night’s moonrise.

Waxing Gibbous 97.5%

I won’t be able to photograph the Supermoon tonight because it’s He-Man’s birthday and we’ll be celebrating that so I photographed it last night while the moon was in the Blue Hour.

Hum…the sky is bluer on my editing screen than it is here in WP. I wonder why?

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday week-end if you’re here in the States, and everyone else I hope you have a wonderful week-end too!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm PF-E| PS 24.6.0

more to come…

Whatever Weds. June Moons

Posted in Moon, Moonrise, Whatever WednesdayTagged , , , , , , 45 Comments

Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

We’ve been having thunderstorms with lightening almost every day lately so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to see or photograph this month’s full Moon. The day before the full Moon we had storm clouds rolling in all afternoon, but then it cleared up about an hour before Moonrise so, I thought I’d photograph it in case the following night was too overcast to photograph it.

While waiting for the moon to rise enough to get past the mountains I saw a couple of people in Motorized-gliders flying around the mountain where the moon would rise. I hoped they were going to stay long enough for the moon to rise, and fingers crossed one or both would do a moon fly-by. One did!!

Waxing Gibbous 98.5%

It looks like a big bug doesn’t it? The sun was still up so the moon is really faded/washed out.

The following night there were enough breaks in the clouds that I was able to photograph the Full Moon. This is a two frame composite image.

One frame exposed for the sky and foreground and the other exposed for the Moon. I blended the frames in Photoshop.

Strawberry Moon

June’s full moon gets one of its names from the wild strawberries that begin to ripen during the early summer and be gathered by Native American tribes.

Other names for June’s Full Moon are:

Rose Moon, Hot Moon, and Mead Moon.

Yesterday the wind really picked up tossing two patio chairs across the patio, one cushion was blow across the entire patio, and a planter tipped over. The Zephyr wind wins again!😂 We also had some thunder and a little lightening, but both were several miles away.

Saturday #1 Grandson is coming to visit for a week or two for summer. We have plans to hit the grocery store and library straight-away. We hope the weather improves so we can go to the lake and take him paddling.

That’s all from here. I hope you’re having a good week!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 300mmf/4| PS CC 24.5.0

Whatever Weds. Waning Moon Conjunction

Posted in Astro Conjunctions, Astro Photography, Moonrise, PlanetsTagged , , , , , , , , , 42 Comments

Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’ve been hoping for a clear sky before sunrise in order to see the Waning Moon and four early-dawn planets, but we’ve been having cloudy overcast mornings of late. On the 26th I got somewhat lucky even though it was cloudy. Here are 3 of the 4 early-dawn planets along with the Waning Crescent Moon over the Pine Nut Mountains. Following that line of planets up above Mars was Saturn, but it was already so light out I couldn’t see it.

Waning Crescent Moon under Mars, Venus with Jupiter close to Venus.

If you’re up an hour before sunrise your time this Saturday morning looking low in the southeast Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and Moon, are going to be spectacularly close at just a 1/2 degree apart!

Can you believe we’re just days away from May!? This month just flew by! I hope your week is going well and you have a lovely day.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 23.2.2

more to come…