Escape to the Stars

These are heady times for astronomy and astrophysics.

The new James Webb telescope is rewriting galactic history by photographing a 13.5-billion-year-old galaxy. And it imaged a single star over 28 billion light-years away!

So, when I set about planning an August full moon picture, I wanted to include Chicago’s contribution to astronomy and astrophysics, the Adler Planetarium.

The Belt of Venus

The best time to photograph a rising full moon is the day before the full moon. The day before offers a pleasing balance between fading twilight and the light of a full moon. You can see and photograph the foreground and the moon isn’t a pure white orb.

And the other benefit of photographing the day before is including the Belt of Venus.

You may have noticed that the eastern horizon after sunset is awash with a band of pastel pinks and blues. On a clear evening, the horizon can look like a watercolor painting.

This delightful, subtle atmospheric phenomenon is the Belt of Venus.

The name has nothing to do with the planet Venus. Instead, it associated with the girdle or belt worn by the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the Roman counterpart of Venus.

The pink band is caused by the same scattering of light that warms the light of the setting sun. And the blue band is the shadow of the earth.

From the BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Sometimes the Belt can be quite striking, as this shot at twilight over Canyonlands National Park in Utah demonstrates.

The Shot

Fortunately, a position on the Chicago lakefront south of Balbo Drive afforded the opportunity to image the rising moon over the Adler Planetarium. A 200mm telephoto lens framed the scene well.

Friend and fellow photographer Jon Christofersen and I were fortunate to catch the show. Five years ago, when I first attempted this shot, there were only a few photographers around. This time there must have been 50!

After photographing and appreciating the sight, we moved north to photograph the fireworks with our drones.

Thanks for looking and let me know if you spot “Aphrodite’s girdle”,

Chuck Derus