Starship Asterisk*

Moon, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Milky Way

Explanation: It is not a coincidence that planets line up. That's because all of the planets orbit the Sun in (nearly) a single sheet called the plane of the ecliptic. When viewed from inside that plane -- as Earth dwellers are likely to do -- the planets all appear confined to a single band. It is a coincidence, though, when three of the brightest planets all appear in nearly the same direction. Such a coincidence was captured about a month ago. Featured above, Earth's Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter were all imaged together, just before sunrise, from the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. A second band is visible diagonally across this image -- the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. If you wake up early, you will find that these same planets remain visible in the morning sky this month, too.

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Who could have identified moon in that picture without hovering mouse over the image ? I bet not a single person. Right ? I'd say chances are higher that someone would say "why/how come that human being is holding a moon in his hands ?" .. Jokes apart, I have never ever seen moon in such yellow (sunrise/sunset) colors. Has anyone of you ? Thanks in advance for all comments/reactions.

I feel shailesh is missing the point. The color of the moon is obviously strange, but what is truly mind-bogling of this picture is that the direction of the reflection of the moonlight in the sea is pointing left of the person taking this picture. Imagine the changes in Quantum mechanics that would be required to explain such a phenomena . My conclusion is that either Hawking or Adobe has much to answer for.

Am I correct in seeing the plane of the solar ecliptic is tilted at about a 45 degree angle from the plain of our galaxy? Would this indicate anything about the forces at work in the nebula where our system formed 4-5 billions years ago? Is it possible even to hazard a guess?

Now this is gonna make a nice background photo!
Oh ya; I've seen the moon that color!

I feel shailesh is missing the point. The color of the moon is obviously strange, but what is truly mind-bogling of this picture is that the direction of the reflection of the moonlight in the sea is pointing left of the person taking this picture. Imagine the changes in Quantum mechanics that would be required to explain such a phenomena . My conclusion is that either Hawking or Adobe has much to answer for.

Charon wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 12:16 pm

...what is truly mind-bogling of this picture is that the direction of the reflection of the moonlight in the sea is pointing left of the person taking this picture. Imagine the changes in Quantum mechanics that would be required to explain such a phenomena.

A fisheye camera pointed at the ground below the man

An emailer pointed out that the title of the image incorrectly said "Milk Way". I have therefore added a "y" to make the name "Milky Way" on the main NASA APOD. I apologize for the typo. - RJN

NCTom wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 12:01 pm Am I correct in seeing the plane of the solar ecliptic is tilted at about a 45 degree angle from the plain of our galaxy? Would this indicate anything about the forces at work in the nebula where our system formed 4-5 billions years ago? Is it possible even to hazard a guess?

The ecliptic is angled about 60° from the plane of the Milky Way. It almost certainly has no physical basis. The plane of stellar systems doesn't appear related to the galactic plane (and we have many examples now to work with).

Hi Neufer, I thought that a line on a photo can go anywhere (=perspective), but a reflection can only point straight at you. Anyway, I love he confidence of those guys parking their white cars.

Guest wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 2:57 pm Hi Neufer, I thought that a line on a photo can go anywhere (=perspective), but a reflection can only point straight at you. Anyway, I love he confidence of those guys parking their white cars.

A "line of reflection" of a bright light source, as seen from the point of view from a small camera lens, would result from a set of points on the reflective surface that bounce the light back to that point. There are lots of ways to make that pattern of light have a shape different than a line that radiates from the center of the photo being captured. If the reflective surface is the top of a body of water, then wind and waves can alter the shape. Then there's distortion in the lens, etc.
https://physics.stackexchange.com/quest ... n-in-water

Mihail's photo is beautiful with balanced natural colors. Beautiful sunrises must be taking place with spring, there is a certain calm of the wind and it is noted for the placidity of the waters of the Black Sea, a historical area for the passage of armies, hoards of vandals, merchant caravans, the Silk Road , but better known is for the route of the nomadic peoples who populated Asia Minor and repopulated the Russian steppes.

MarkBour wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 4:36 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 2:57 pm Hi Neufer, I thought that a line on a photo can go anywhere (=perspective), but a reflection can only point straight at you. Anyway, I love he confidence of those guys parking their white cars.

A "line of reflection" of a bright light source, as seen from the point of view from a small camera lens, would result from a set of points on the reflective surface that bounce the light back to that point. There are lots of ways to make that pattern of light have a shape different than a line that radiates from the center of the photo being captured. If the reflective surface is the top of a body of water, then wind and waves can alter the shape. Then there's distortion in the lens, etc.
https://physics.stackexchange.com/quest ... n-in-water

Thanks for pointing out that reflections could act weird event without the Photoshop intervention. I this case, I think that the tilted wide angle lens (17 mm FF) did the job.

Thanks, Chris, for the information.

Charon, the camera is focused on Jupiter, that's why the lunar reflection seems anomalous