Starship Asterisk*

Lunar Corona over Cochem Castle

Explanation: This bat-like apparition does not shine on clouds passing over Gotham city. Instead, the cloud bank in silhouette against a colorful lunar corona was spotted on the evening of May 18 over Cochem, Germany from the banks of the river Moselle. The lunar corona is formed as bright moonlight is diffracted by water droplets in thin clouds drifting in front of the lunar disk. Below it lies the region's historic Cochem Castle dating from the 11th century, and not Wayne Manor. Still, regardless of your location on planet Earth it is well worth scanning the evening skies this weekend, as a Full Moon rises and bright planets gather in the west.

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It's kind of a s-t-r-e-t-c-h getting Batman involved with this APOD when there is no beam of light shining up to where the moon is as a Bat-signal.
But what-the-heck, it's Friday night and things are kinda slow around here.

I think it is a striking APOD, and because my attention to Bat-cana detail is spotty, the Moon, corona and clouds put on a very satisfying imitation of the Batman signal to me. And the castle below is creepily perfect, although it reminds me more of Dracula than of Bruce Wayne.

Vlad Batman Dracula in the sky. Who would have guessed?

Ann

The name of the river is not Mossele, but Mosel (in German) or Moselle (in French).

Ich bin die Fledermaus mann....

Die...Der.....Das?????

Really nice picture!!! Beautiful!!! The sky is so indigo and blue....the reflection of the town on the water, and the castle...all very romantic....

We have Lunar Corona's here lots of times...rings or halos, etc...

The Full Moon was peeking out between some clouds earlier...I had to stop and look, and say....HELLO, MOON!!!!!

:---[===] *

Wim wrote:
The name of the river is not Mossele,
but Mosel (in German) or Moselle (in French).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moselle_%28river%29 wrote:
In the tale, "The Seven Swabians" of the Brothers Grimm, the eponymous Swabians drown trying to cross the Moselle.

This is a webcam picture of Mt. Fuji, in Japan, at night...with a full moon, and clouds blocking light, and clouds showing a partial corona...peeking out the bottom of the thicker cloud layer...Ft. Fuji, also blocks some of the light on the left, making a more shallow angle of shadow...
Too bad it is not HD color picture, I bet it was awesome looking....you can see the reflection off of Lake Yamanakako. Still very ethereal...

:---[===] *

Wonderful image!

@ Wim,
But we are in Germany, so Mosel it is.

1313 Mockingbird Heights ?

Kinsella wrote:
1313 Mockingbird Heights ?

• 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Mockingbird Heights.

I never caught a bat while i was trying to picture a Full Moon !
This chiroptera is probably a megabat.

Lovely photo, and Babak Tafreshi's video is even better, thanks Bystander (who was that masked man?). At the end of the video, when the bright limb of the Moon sets behind the castle, you can briefly see the ghostly image of the dark side of the Moon. I love watching clouds flying in front of a bright Moon. Seeing the constantly changing visions of moonlight shining through moving clouds of different shapes and densities is like looking through a cosmic kaleidoscope, never the same from one moment to the next.

It looks more like Centaurus A.