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Stunning Photo Shows Moon With Celestial Rainbow

Stunning Photo Shows Moon With Celestial Rainbow

The incredible shot was snapped in Italy

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A photographer in Italy has caught an incredible image showing the moon surrounded by a celestial rainbow.

The rare meteorological phenomenon - called lunar corona- occurs when the light reflecting off the moon's surface is split by water or ice particles in the air.

SWNS/Alberto Ghizzi Panizza

The result is this pretty spectacular night-time rainbow that we can see in the photo.

The image was captured by photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza, 45, near the northern Italian city of Parma.

He said: "I have seen this phenomenon several times, but I had never been able to photograph it.

"This time, seeing it from home for the lockdown, I had with me all the necessary equipment to best capture this moment.

"Between 10pm and 12am I took a few hundred photos of the moon that created halos, iridescences and crowns among clouds and veils."

Photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
SWNS/Alberto Ghizzi Panizza

And if interesting luna photos are up your street, then check out this incredible shot by California-based snapper Andrew McCarthy.

The image below is actually a composite made up of thousands of images taken over the space of a couple of weeks to really show the detail of the moon's surface.

SWNS

McCarthy shared his impressive work on Instagram, where he wrote: He wrote: "This moon might look a little funny to you, and that's because it is an impossible scene.

"From two weeks of images of the waxing moon, I took the section of the picture that has the most contrast (right before the lunar terminator where shadows are the longest), aligned and blended them to show the rich texture across the entire surface.

"This was exhausting to say the least, namely because the moon doesn't line up day over day, so each image had to be mapped to a 3D sphere and adjusted to make sure each image aligned."

SWNS

McCarthy called his image 'all Terminator'.

'Lunar terminator' is the term used to describe the line between the light and dark side of the moon.

The sun creates larger and longer shadows in the terminator, which help give the image a three-dimensional appearance.

They also make the moon's surface much clearer, giving the craters much more focus and making them more prominent in the photo.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: Interesting, space