At first glance, you would be forgiven for mistaking this footage for a scene from the latest science fiction blockbuster.
But it is very real and it shows in dramatic detail how much the moon ‘oscillates’ in the sky during each 27-day orbit.
Lunar photographer Andrew McCarthy spent hundreds of hours on 22 consecutive nights, taking thousands of photos of the moon as it rose and fell in its nearly full orbit.
While ‘oscillation’, known as libation, is a well-known phenomenon, the incredible footage shows how much the moon changes its angle as it rotates.
‘The Moon always keeps the same face for us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the inclination and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month, ”explains NASA.
‘When a month is compressed by 24 seconds, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it’s wavering. This oscillation is called a pound, a pound, the scale. ‘
Mr. McCarthy, based in California, USA, wanted to show for the first time the exact movement of the moon in the sky over the course of a lunar month.
He said he was shocked to see how closely the moon changes its angle as it rotates.
His 40-second video clip, made up of thousands of images meticulously aligned over each other, appears to show the moon doing a little ‘swing’ while orbiting, what McCarthy described as a ‘cosmic dance’.
The change also allows observers to see many of the moon’s craters from different angles and in different lights.
Posting the video on his Instagram, McCarthy wrote: ‘Last month, I worked on my biggest project so far – an attempt to really show the unmistakable spherical nature of the moon.
‘By capturing a high resolution image of the moon every night for 22 days, I captured the’ libation ‘, which is the apparent oscillation of our moon.
‘Stuck in an eternal cosmic dance, this small movement is caused by the angle of the moon’s elliptical orbit and the position of the observer.
“The moon itself is not really swinging, it is just orbiting.
Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, from Earth we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month
When a month is compressed in 24 seconds, as in Andrew’s video, our change in view of the Moon makes it look like it’s wavering
‘However, the side we see changes slightly because the orbit is angular and elliptical, so you can see a little bit from the other sides depending on where it is in the sky in relation to the observer.
‘I have also extended some of my favorite features, where depth really comes to life.’
Andrew added that this was his most challenging project to date, saying: ‘I always wanted to do this feeling that I got into astrophotography.
‘The challenge is to have enough clear nights in a row to achieve this.
‘Some nights, when conditions were ideal, I was able to finish in 30 minutes, other nights I spent hours filming hoping conditions would improve.
‘Liberation is a known phenomenon, but I didn’t realize how dramatic the difference would be.
Lunar photographer Andrew McCarthy spent hundreds of hours on 22 consecutive nights, taking thousands of photos of the moon as it rose and fell almost in full orbit
Each final image that appeared in Andrew’s brief video clip is actually a mosaic assembled from hundreds of photos – to overcome any atmospheric “turbulence” that could distort an image
‘Many features, such as Crater Clavius, completely change the angle as the moon rotates them away from the viewer.
“It really adds a level of depth to these features that I didn’t expect.”
Each final image that appeared in Andrew’s brief video clip is actually a mosaic assembled from hundreds of photos – to overcome any atmospheric ‘turbulence’ that could distort an image.
Andrew said: ‘This project took hundreds of hours to complete and involved millions of frames and terabytes of data.
Mr McCarthy said: ‘The work involved behind each frame was already great, so aligning each image by hand and creating an animation that was smooth and showed the level of detail I wanted was a test of patience’
Although ‘wobble’ is a well-known phenomenon, the incredible footage shows how much the moon changes its angle as it rotates
‘The work involved behind each frame was already great, so aligning each image by hand and creating an animation that was smooth and showed the level of detail I wanted was a test of patience.
‘My favorite phases are usually on the waning side of the moon, which is also the most difficult to capture.
‘The stark contrast in the few complex prominent craters, like Aristarchus and Copernicus, against the soft Maria gives a beautiful composition.’
SCIENTISTS DO NOT AGREE WITH THE FORM OF THE MOON, BUT MANY BELIEVE IT WAS THE RESULT OF AN IMPACT BETWEEN EARTH AND ANOTHER PLANET
Many researchers believe that the moon formed after Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago.
This is called the giant impact hypothesis.
The theory suggests that the moon is made up of debris left over after a collision between our planet and a body about 4.5 billion years ago.
The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, after the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the moon goddess.
Many researchers believe that the moon formed after Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago. This is called a giant impact hypothesis
But a mystery persisted, revealed by the rocks that Apollo astronauts brought from the moon: why are the moon and the Earth so similar in composition?
Several different theories have emerged over the years to explain the similar fingerprints of the Earth and the moon.
Perhaps the impact created a huge cloud of debris that mixed completely with the Earth and then condensed to form the moon.
Or Theia could have, coincidentally, been chemically similar to the young Earth.
A third possibility is that the moon was formed from terrestrial materials instead of Theia, although this was a very unusual type of impact.