This is a view of the full moon that blessed Saline skies last night in the waning hours of Christmas Day. [1]
Appropriately, it was taken looking across the steeple high atop First United Methodist Church in the City of Saline. [2]
According to the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the last time a full moon appeared on Christmas Day was in 1977 — almost 40 years ago. But you only need wait half that for the next one, anticipated in 2034.
Further from NASA:
December’s full moon, the last of the year, is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter. The moon’s peak this year will occur at 6:11 am EST.
Planning for special opportunities to photograph the moon can be as simple as periodically checking the Google news feed. Or simply search on “full moon,” “moon phases,” “quarter moon,” and so forth. [3,4,5,6]
Before heading out to the field, remember that framing the moon can be tricky: Its relative position changes more quickly than you might expect. Apps such as Sky Guide can be helpful in terms of predicting the position of the moon for composition planning. [7,8]
Do not look directly at the moon or through your equipment.
In terms of equipment, the most common recommendation is for a lens with a minimum focal length of 200mm (35mm equivalent) and a good tripod. Manually focus, and bracket exposures, if possible — moving expediciously.
Share your own results on Instagram using #moon or similar hashtag and you’ll often get helpful feedback for improvement.
References
Photographed on December 25, 2015 at 10:53pm using Nikon D7000 camera with Nikon 200mm Nikkor-Q f/4 lens, set to f/11 at 1/250-second and ISO 200 (tripod-mount).
- “Rare Full Moon on Christmas Day” (December 17, 2015) NASA.
- First United Methodist Church – Saline (home page).
- “There’s a rare celestial event on Christmas that won’t happen again for another 19 years” Jessica Orwig (December 23, 2015) Business Insider.
- “Rare Christmas Full Moon a Cosmic Gift for the Holidays: What to Expect” Joe Rao (December 24, 2015) Space.
- “The full moon calendar 2016” Full Moon.
- “January 2016 Moon Phases” Moon Giant.
- “Sky Guide AR” Fifth Star Labs (iTunes App Store).
- “Skyguide – iOS App First Look” SKTReviews (June 16, 2014) YouTube.
