homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Amateur astronomer takes over 2 million photos to showcase Moon's dance

When art and astronomy meet, the results are always stellar.

Tibi Puiu
March 31, 2022 @ 2:40 pm

share Share

Andrew McCarthy claims he’s “just a normal guy with a telescope,” but he’s probably just being humble. The astrophotographer with a huge following on social media has spent an entire month taking photos of the moon during its transited zenith. He took over 2 million individual photos, which he stitched together in an amazing GIF showing the moon wobble as if it were dancing in the sky.

Not every night was suitable for observations. Sometimes it rained, other times his telescope was engulfed by a dust storm. But McCarthy persevered as he traveled across different observation positions across Arizona, and managed to fix the variations in day-to-day observations using clever postprocessing.

When stitched together, the different photos show the moon wagging or wavering. This phenomenon is called libration is caused by changes in the observer’s perspective as a result of the moon’s slightly tilted axis and elliptical orbit. Thanks to libration we can see slightly different hemispheres of the lunar surface at different times. The beautiful composite image below shows the moon’s phase during each night of observation.

Credit: Andrew McCarthy.

“I thought the motion would tell a really nice story of the Moon’s dynamic presence around Earth. I’m very passionate about spreading my love for the Moon, as I believe humanity establishing a man’s presence there would get more public support if everyone loved it as much as I do,” McCarthy told My Modern Met.

McCarthy has other great content that is worth watching, including a video showing what the moon would look like with seas and an atmosphere or the International Space Station darting across the moon.

@cosmic_background Should we terraform the moon? #astrophotography #space #cosmos #astronomy #science #telescope #cosmic #moon #lunar #apollo #artemis #terraform ♬ Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Dark Side of the Moon
@cosmic_background Ever seen the International Space Station? #ISS #astronomy #space #astrophotography #nasa #cosmos #moon #telescope ♬ No Time for Caution – Hans Zimmer

Follow Andrew McCarthy on Instagram and TikTok.

share Share

Japan Plans to Beam Solar Power from Space to Earth

The Sun never sets in space — and Japan has found a way to harness this unlimited energy.

Giant Planet Was Just Caught Falling Into Its Star and It Changes What We Thought About Planetary Death

A rare cosmic crime reveals a planet’s slow-motion death spiral into its star.

This Planet Is So Close to Its Star It Is Literally Falling Apart, Leaving a Comet-like Tail of Dust in Space

This dying planet sheds a “Mount Everest” of rock each day.

We Could One Day Power a Galactic Civilization with Spinning Black Holes

Could future civilizations plug into the spin of space-time itself?

Elon Musk could soon sell missile defense to the Pentagon like a Netflix subscription

In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring missile attacks the gravest threat to America. It was the official greenlight for one of the most ambitious military undertakings in recent history: the so-called “Golden Dome.” Now, just months later, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and two of its tech allies—Palantir and Anduril—have emerged as leading […]

Have scientists really found signs of alien life on K2-18b?

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. We're not quite there.

How a suitcase-sized NASA device could map shrinking aquifers from space

Next‑gen gravity maps could help track groundwater, ice loss, and magma.

Astronomers Say They Finally Found Half the Universe’s Matter. It was Missing In Plain Sight

It was beginning to get embarassing but vast clouds of hydrogen may finally resolve a cosmic mystery.

Trump’s Budget Plan Is Eviscerating NASA and NOAA Science

Science is under attack.

Researchers can't rule out the possibility of life existing on Titan

It wouldn't be very much, but it's exciting anyway.