Starship Asterisk*

Green Flash and Super Moon

Explanation: It was really not about superheroes as on May 6 the much touted Super Moon, the largest Full Moon of 2012, rose over this otherwise peaceful harbor. And no supervillains were present either as boats gently rocked at their moorings near the checkerboard La Perdrix lighthouse on the coast of Brittany, France. But the rise of the Super Moon was preceded by a Green Flash, captured in the first frame of this timelapse video recorded that night. The cropped image of the frame, a two second long exposure, shows the strongly colored flash left of the lighted buoy near picture center. While the Super Moon was enjoyed at locations all around the world, the circumstances that produced the Green Flash were more restrictive. Green flashes for both Sun and Moon are caused by atmospheric refraction enhanced by long, low, sight lines and strong atmospheric temperature gradients often favored by a sea horizon.

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So it was green cheese after all

Can anyone explain why the APOD website features so few actual astronomical images (as in, taken by a research telescope) these days? There's a lot of moon photography, scenic pictures of conjunctions, montages, space shuttle nostalgia... Would it be possible to get back to actual images taken by the world's best telescopes?

I am sorry to be negative, but it really has been weeks and weeks of scenery lately and not so much of what's new in astronomy.

Because APOD has a broader definition of astronomical images than you have, pausanias, as it's not limited to images "taken by a research telescope."

Busted!!!
















Ann

Yay...I am SuperMoonlady today

I thought green flash can appear only while sunset... learning here becomes never boring!

Triple Green Flash

The day of our wedding, at sunset on our honeymoon, my new wife and I were having an evening cocktail on the balcony of our hotel room overlooking the sea in Newport, California. We had a spotting scope set up and we both had binoculars, and as the sun set we both saw, very clearly, a triple green flash, as the refracted light "bleebed" into 3 distinct spots. I have never seen this phenomenum before or since.

Needless to say, we took this as a good omen for what has become a long and happy marriage.

Well, must say, I really enjoy the variety and breadth of images and subjects featured on APOD; it is what makes it fascinating and stimulating and more than worthwhile coming back to see every day. Almost without exception, there is something new to be learned. And the comments on Asterisk are always enlightening and/or entertaining too! So, today's pic is another good example. I've never seen a green flash at sunrise or sunset myself yet, but that's not going to stop me from looking out for one. I never actually realised you could get the same effect with the moon too, so there you go, something new. Any road up, as we say in my part of the world, this is a visually pleasing composition . . and I enjoyed revealing the geographical location of the photo by zooming out of the map at the 'on the coast' link. Ta very much.

(and hey, congrats K1NS, great story!)

If the sun is setting to the left of the image, as suggested by the sunlight on the boats, why is the green flash at 90 degrees to it instead of 180?

starstruck wrote:Well, must say, I really enjoy the variety and breadth of images and subjects featured on APOD; it is what makes it fascinating and stimulating and more than worthwhile coming back to see every day. Almost without exception, there is something new to be learned. And the comments on Asterisk are always enlightening and/or entertaining too! So, today's pic is another good example. I've never seen a green flash at sunrise or sunset myself yet, but that's not going to stop me from looking out for one. I never actually realised you could get the same effect with the moon too, so there you go, something new. Any road up, as we say in my part of the world, this is a visually pleasing composition . . and I enjoyed revealing the geographical location of the photo by zooming out of the map at the 'on the coast' link. Ta very much.

Where is the "like" button when you need one?

You are expected to exercise your brain a little bit here and provide some input beyond a single word.

Jsquared wrote:If the sun is setting to the left of the image, as suggested by the sunlight on the boats, why is the green flash at 90 degrees to it instead of 180?

Did you consider the presence of a light other than the sun out of frame? If you check the video link, you can see the light to the left is indeed static.

I liked today's picture; it's going to make a nice background! Kudos to Laurent Laveder!

Only parts (mostly northern) of Brittany have eastern facing shorelines.

In which town/harbor was this photo taken? Was it Loctudy?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Loctudy,+ ... ce&t=m&z=8

Thank you.

What did the mariners of old call the green flash? I've forgotten.

jimchar wrote:
Only parts (mostly northern) of Brittany have eastern facing shorelines.

In which town/harbor was this photo taken? Was it Loctudy?

Yes: http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 10#p175284

Is there PEPELATS on the photo?

Picture from Kin-Dza-Dza film:

pausanias wrote:Can anyone explain why the APOD website features so few actual astronomical images (as in, taken by a research telescope) these days? There's a lot of moon photography, scenic pictures of conjunctions, montages, space shuttle nostalgia... Would it be possible to get back to actual images taken by the world's best telescopes?

I am sorry to be negative, but it really has been weeks and weeks of scenery lately and not so much of what's new in astronomy.

Go to the archives and you can spend several years looking back at all the space pictures of your choice. Today's APOD was super.

I didn't say the scenery pictures are bad. I agree that most of them are beautiful.

I was just remarking that whereas before, there seemed to be an even mix of scenery and scientific images, now the posts now seem disproportionately dominated by scenery images.

And yes, in the archive, which I've downloaded the entirety of, there used to be an even balance of all different types of images. The change/bias towards scenery has been recent (like in the past few months).

Makes me pine for the Keys

Wonderful catch! Congrats on it making the APOD.

geckzilla wrote:You are expected to exercise your brain a little bit here and provide some input beyond a single word.

I like.

geckzilla wrote:You are expected to exercise your brain a little bit here and provide some input beyond a single word.

Yes, ma'am!

How about this ? :


okeeeeeeeeeeey I know now. a smiley is not enough too, right?... I will use latin letters, form words and with help of grammar rules, build a sentence to express my thoughts and feelings...

That's the spirit!