The Full Moon and Frösö Church Photo

Last week during the full Moon of November I had planned to take a photo of the full Moon rising behind the 800 year old Frösö church. I got this idea in May this year when I was wandering about on Andersön, a nature reserve located on an island 5 km Southwest of Frösön. Back in May I did notice that Frösö church was clearly visible and that it would make a nice foreground against a full Moon.

Frösö Church as seen from Andersön in May 2018.

When I returned home I started planning my shot and look through different software to see when the Moon should rise behind the church. The first date that popped up was November 22nd 2018.

So after waiting for 6 months, the time had finally come, now it was all down to the weather, and this time I was lucky to see clear skies with pretty good atmospheric conditions. This is the final photo.

Final photo of the full Moon behind Frösö church.

The still photo was taken using my Nikon D850 on my Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4 D IF-ED II lens. The real time footage of the Moon rising was shot using my Nikon D500 and Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8 D IF-ED with a Nikon AF-S TC-20E III teleconverter.

Here's a film from the 22nd of  November showing how I took the photo.



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Lifting the full moon

Yesterday it was time for another full moon to rise above the horizon. I always try to see the full moon rise, if the weather permits. I never get tired of seeing our beautiful moon slowly rise and to make things even more exciting I always try to find an exciting foreground to go along with it.

Last night I've scouted where I needed to be for the moon to rise behind this big crane. I think this mosaic photo turned out really good and it looks like the crane is lifting the moon while the residents in the building is probably watching the progress.

Nikon D500 with a Nikon AF-S 600 mm f/4.0 lens
Exposure 1/40 sec. ISO 100 at f/4.0

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Best Swedish astronomy picture of the year 2016

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that my photo of the full moon rising above the mountains in Jämtland, Sweden, won first price as best Swedish astronomy picture of the year 2016. The contest is organized by the Swedish astronomy magazine Populär Astronomi.

The photo was taken on the 16th of August last year. It was taken near the small village Handöl in Jämtland. It was a calm and warm late summer evening and I had planed to take photos of the full moon rise. Just after the top of the moon was above the horizon I saw that it would touch this beautiful mountain formation an re-positioned myself to have the moon touching the mountain top in a way that it looked like it was about to roll down the hill.

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Finding the lunar fog bow

A month ago I had never seen a lunar fog bow, now I have seen three. I got to see my first lunar fog bow on December 17 last year. Last night I got to see two more of these elusive phenomena. We had lots of fog around the city of Östersund and since it was the night of the full moon, I drove around chasing locations where I could see these beautiful bows.

I got two relatively good ones on photo two hours apart. I've included the time and height of the Moon when the photos was taken.

This is something I really love with this type of photography, learning about new phenomena and how and when to see them. After seeing my first lunar fog bow I new how it looked like and what conditions to look for. Last night there where perfect fog bow conditions so it was just a matter of finding the right spot. The moon light needs to be bright so the days around full moon is best. Also the light from the moon can't be to obscured by the fog and you need to have rather dense fog in the opposite direction of the moon. So try to find a location where you're standing just beneath the top of the fog, then you are inside the fog but the moon light is still bright enough to light up the bow.

Also, as you can see by these two photos, a lunar fog bow works exactly as a rainbow, the height of the bow is determined by the height of the light source (Sun/Moon), so if the moon is too high in the sky > ~35° the fog bow won't be visible. A rainbow has a radius of 42° so if the Sun's altitude in the sky is more than 42°, a rainbow can't be visible. The same goes for a fog bow, but it has a much broader radius, 30-45°. So, the lower the altitude of the Sun/moon is, the higher the bow is.

Good luck bow hunting!

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Supermoon through the clouds

Last night I got back home from the big photo fair Fotomässan in Stockholm where I held a couple of lectures on my astrophotography in the Nikon booth.

During more or less the entire train ride home I could see the 98% lit moon outside the window. It lit up the winter landscape in a very beautiful way. Upon arrival the clouds was blocking the moon but small gaps passed by from time to time so I decided to wait out one and take a shot of the moon. This photo was taken about 12 hours before the moon reaches lunar perigee, the point when the moon is closest to Earth.

Sadly the weather for tonight looks really bad so I will most likely miss out this supermoon. But as I said in earlier posts, every full moon rise is worth watching so I'll have another go on December 14.

Nikon D800E, Nikon AF-S 300 mm f/2.8
Exposure 1 sec with ISO 100 at 300 mm f/4.0

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Time for a Supermoon

Don't miss tomorrows Supermoon. It will be the biggest moon since 1948 and it won't be as big until 2034. With your naked eye you won't experience the moon as bigger but since it will be 14% larger than normal, a photo of this moon and a regular full moon will show the difference in size. I recommend you to watch the moon as it rises above the horizon, Supermoon or not, watching a full moon rise is always a beautiful experience.

When it comes to taking photo of this Supermoon I also recommend doing it just as the moon rises above the horizon to get a more exciting photo. Use a long focal length to get really close to the moon. And don't forget to take a photo of a normal full moon with the same focal length so you can compare it to this larger moon. Good luck and clear skies!

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Full moon of October

Full moon of October rises behind the Arctura building in Östersund, Sweden. On top of this building there's an restaurant, I hope they enjoyed the view of the moon.

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Midnight Summer Solstice Sun

Last night the Sun went from spring to summer during the summer solstice. At the time I was above the article circle so I could see the Sun throughout the entire night. The weather was really bad during the day but cleared up around 19:00 UTC. Seeing the midnight Sun is really special and I'm so happy that the weather cleared up during the solstice. I was also able to see the full Moon rise and it's quite awesome to be able to see both the Sun and the full Moon during the night.

Midnight Solstice Sun in Gällivare, Sweden

Full Moon rising in the light of the midnight Sun

Here's a time lapse movie showing the Sun move across the sky. As you can see the Sun never sets below the horizon, it gets blocked blocked by clouds at one point.

Strawberry Moon

On Monday it's time for another Strawberry full moon to rise, one of the more beautiful moon rises of the year. The full moon of June got its Strawberry name because the Algonquin tribes knew it as a signal to gather ripening fruit. This is a shot of the Strawberry moon rise back in 2014.

Hiking for the full moon

Today I went hiking with my family in a beautiful mountain area here in Jämtland, Sweden. We had a great time and the views got was really amazing now when the mountain tops are snow covered.

Later during the afternoon it was time for the full moon to rise. My wife and my two kids got to model while watching the moon rise above the horizon. I planned the shot during the day and everything look great for the evening. Just an hour before the Moon was about to rise, the clouds started to move in from west and the sky was quickly covered.

I was a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to do the shot but as you can see the sky was clear to the east just enough for the full moon to be visible. The moon is somewhat deformed in the lower half, that's due to atmospheric refraction.

Total Lunar Eclipse

We're closing in on one of the astronomical highlights of this year. Early in the morning on the 28th of September we will be able to see a total lunar eclipse (Swedish summer time). Totality starts at 04:10 and ends at 05:28. The partial eclipse starts at 03:06 and ends at 06:28 so it will be a long night for all you eclipse chasers.

This years eclipse is a bit special since it occurs during a so called supermoon. A supermoon is when the full moon coincides with its closest approach to the Earth.

This is a collage of a total lunar eclipse I photographed on the 28th of October back in 2004. It shows the partial eclipse growing into a total lunar eclipse. This eclipse also occurred early in the morning here in Sweden, these photos was taken between 04:00 and 05:00.

So let us hope for clear skies on the morning of the 28th of September. What better way to start a week than with a total lunar eclipse :-)

Planning and shooting the full moon of August

So, did you see it? Last night's full moon? It was as beautiful as always to see the full moon slowly rise above the horizon. I never get tired of seeing the Moon and Sun rise and set. These events are always a joy to watch and you never know what will happen regarding the light and other optical phenomena. Last night was no exception.

So, this time I had planned a location in forehand to get a shot with the moon above a big residential building called Fagerskrapan about 3 km away. According to my calculations the full moon should be visible around 20:12 - 20:15 Swedish summer time and at 20:14 it popped up right about where I expected it to, about three degrees to the left of Fagerskrapan.

Nikon D800E 1/180 sec, ISO 200, 600mm f/4.0

Then just three minutes later the Moon was closing in on the building and I noticed I had to move a bit to get it closer to the roof of the building. When doing these final adjustments you don't need to move much. Perhaps I moved about 20-30 meters away from my original spot.

Nikon D800E 1/180 sec, ISO 200, 600mm f/4.0

As the Moon got even closer to the building I went from 600 mm to 1,000 mm in focal length to get a more dramatic perspective of the scene.

Nikon D800E 1/90 sec, ISO 400, 1,000mm f/6.7

Now it was all about waiting for the right moment and and keep shooting. At a focal length of 1,000 mm the Moon moves pretty fast over the sky.

Nikon D800E 1/180 sec, ISO 400, 1,000mm f/6.7

One minute later I took this shot when the Moon was connected to Fagerskrapan by the big antenna on the roof. I shot it in portrait mode and have then cropped it to a square format. I like the fact that this antenna are connecting the two objects.

So in all it took the Moon about 6 minutes to make the trip from horizon and to the top of the building. That's not much so if you try to capture a moon or sunrise you need good preparations and planing in forehand.

Finally I realized that I might get a photo of a clock and the Moon exactly when it was at 100% which occurred at 20:38 Swedish summer time. This wasn't something I've planned but I realized it in the last few minutes and I soon realized that from my current location I wasn't able to get that shot, but it would be close.

Nikon D800E 1/125 sec, ISO 400, 1,000mm f/6.7

So this last photo was taken at 20:29 so 9 minutes to early. Had I waited for another 9 minutes the Moon had been long gone from that church tower, close but no cigar. The good side of the is that now I got another shot to do at another full moon :-)


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Don't miss tonight's full moon

Tonight it's time for another full moon to rise. The full moon of August is sometimes called the Sturgeon Moon. Sturgeon is a large fish that is most easily caught during this month. Another name of the full moon in August is the Full Red Moon because the moon looking reddish when it rises.

Watching a full moon rise is one of my favorite things, it's so majestic to see it slowly move across the sky. So don't forget to go out and watch this full moon rise. Lookup on the Internet when the Moon rises at your location. Bring a pair of binoculars, a camera and a friend or two.

Here's a couple of photos I took of the full moon in July when I was in Gothenburg earlier this summer.

Lunar Eclipse Service

Later today there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, Australia, New Zealand and eastern parts of Asia. By the time the moon is visible here in central Europe, the eclipse will be over.

Yesterday I found the moon while it was being prepared for the upcoming eclipse.

Later this year, on the 28th of September, there will be another lunar eclipse that will be visible from eastern half of North America to western part of Europe.

Lunar Maintenance

The Moon is about to dock onto the lunar station Arcturus in Östersund Sweden, for some maintenance. The latest supermoon event took its toll on our only natural satellite.

Supermoon in colorful clouds

The Supermoon from last night was hiding in some colorful clouds.

Hunter's Moon

Fullmånen i oktober brukar kallas Hunter's Moon (jägarmånen fritt översatt). Tdigare var det nödvändigt att under denna tid hamstra mat inför den kommande vintern. Jag själv gav mig ut på jakt på själva månen. Det blåste väldigt kraftigt denna natt och ca en timme efter att bilden togs började det snöa.

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The full moon of October is also called Hunter's Moon. It's the time of the year when native Americans begun storing up food for the long winter ahead. I went out to hunt down the Moon it selves. It was a very windy night and about an hour after this picture was taken, it began to snow.

Stostjödjursmånen

Enligt den nordamerikanska bondepraktikan kallas fullmånen i augusti för Störmånen (Efter fisken). Detta för att det var den lättaste fisken att fånga i de stora sjöarna under denna månad. Vi i Jämtland har vår egen stora sjö, Storsjön. Så för att hedra denna augustimåne fick vårt Storsjöodjur omfamna denna måne av de stora sjöarna.

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Acording to the North American Farmers Almanac, the fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of August Moon, Full Sturgeon Moon. Since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month

Here in Östersund we have our own Great Lake, Storsjön (Swedish and translates to Great Lake). We also have a lake monster in Storsjön called The Great Lake Monster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storsjöodjuret)

Here you can see the full moon of August guarded by our Great Lake Monster.

Äntligen lite nattlysande moln

Igår var det äntligen en klar och fin dag här i Östersund efter flera veckor med mulet och kallt väder. Kvällen blev också fantastiskt vacker. Först kom fullmånen upp strax efter klockan 9 på kvällen och sedan strax innan midnatt började det synas några svaga nattlysande moln. Dessa moln ändrar ganska snabbt form och vi kunde se hur de skiftade i styrka och utseende. Nu får vi hoppas på fler klara kvällar med nattlysande moln, jag rekommenderar er verkligen att gå ut och titta efter dessa vackra moln.

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Finally some noctilucent clouds here in northern Sweden. The nights are getting darker each day and finally they nights are so dark that these beautiful clouds are visible. Earlier in the evening we also watched the full moon rise over Östersund.

Fullmåne / Full moon

Ikväll klockan 19:21 skulle mars månads fullmånen klättra upp över horisonten. Det var mulet kring Östersund mot öster så jag åkte några mil söderut för att komma bort från molnen. Redan nere vid Locknesjön såg det betydligt bättre ut så jag bestämde mig för att stanna där och gå ut på isen. Molnen lättade precis lagom till månen kom upp och det var en helt fantastiskt syn att få se den resa sig sakta bakom de tunna molnstrimmor som låg kvar i horisonten. Jag passade också på att ta en titt på kometen PanStarrs. Nu är den ganska lätt att hitta med blotta ögat.

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Tonight at 19:21, Swedish local time, it was the time for the full Moon of March to rise up above the horizon. It was cloudy around Östersund so I decided to go south to get away from the clouds. When I arrived to the lake Locknesjoen it looked much better so I decided to stay there and go out on the ice. It was an fantastic sight to see the Moon rise up slowly behind the thin cloud streaks that remained on the horizon. I also took the opportunity to take a quick look at comet PanStarrs. Now it is quite easy to find with the naked eye.