Amazing Sights – One Looking Down, One Looking Up

(Plain Text Version)

LONG SHADOWS!

Here are two photos of stretched shadows produced by the low position of the rising or setting Sun.

The Earth photo was snapped when my wife and I were out for a walk just before sunset.  The shadows we cast were impressive,  perhaps a hundred feet (or 30 meters) long.

The Lunar photo shows Rupes Recta, commonly known as the “Straight Wall”.  This is the black vertical line in the detail photo.   I was looking at the Moon through my 10” (254 mm) reflecting telescope, and was startled by the sight of it.  I grabbed my smartphone and took this picture through the eyepiece.

The Straight Wall is actually a fault line with one side about 900 ft (300 meters) higher than the other.  This feature would be far too small to detect with my telescope, but it’s long shadow is clearly visible.

There is always something interesting to observe on the Moon!