Sydney’s April full-moon: fall and rise in a single day
Previously I wrote about how I tracked the path of the setting sun over four consecutive days, until I captured the setting sun at the crown of the Harbour Bridge’s arch in Sydney.
I understood that the full moon would occur on the morning of 26 April 2013, which would provide a good opportunity to observe the moon-set close in time with the sunrise in the morning, and the moon-rise close in time after the sunset later that day. At the full-moon phase, sunrise-moonset and sunset-moonrise observations can be made at about the same time in the morning and evening, respectively; for more, see notes about moon phases here.
I obtained the following sun and moon data from timeanddate.com. All times are in Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10); azimuths are measured with 0° North, 90° East, 180° South, and 270° West.
| Sun/Moon | Rise time | Set time | Rise azimuth | Set azimuth | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUN | 0626h | 1720h | 74° | 286° | day-length 10hr54min |
| MOON | — | 0632h | — | 253° | full-moon 0558h | 1735h | — | 109° | — |
In the quiet morning hour, I watched the full-moon set before the sun bathed the Central Business District in golden light. The full-moon was also in partial eclipse, as there’s a visible “shadow” over the lower-right portion of the full-moon (2nd image in the sequence above). Ten hours later that afternoon, I returned to watch the sunset behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge, followed by the full-moon rising over the Tasman Sea.
With a bit of luck, a bit of dedication, and a good warm fleece to hold off the morning and early-evening chill, I enjoyed making this sequence of photos on the same calendar-day.
Moonset, CBD, Coathanger
Full moon, partly eclipsed
Full moon, partly eclipsed
Moonset inside Earth’s shadow (CBD, Coathanger)
Setting of partially-eclipsed moon, just before sunrise
Setting of partially-eclipsed moon, just before sunrise
Setting of partially-eclipsed moon, just before sunrise
Moonset, just before sunrise
Moonset, just before sunrise
Morning light on CBD and Coathanger
Late afternoon sun over CBD, Coathanger
Sydney CBD silhouetted in post-sunset light
Moonrise over the Tasman Sea, after sunset
Moonrise over the Tasman Sea, after sunset
Moonrise over the Tasman Sea
Moonrise over the Tasman Sea
Moonrise over the Tasman Sea
Moon rising over Tasman Sea
Moonrise through better transparency
With a Canon EOS450D (XSi) camera, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens, and Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens, I made all of the photos above on 26 April 2013 without tripod or filters. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.
Fotoeins Fotografie 
2 Responses to “Sydney’s April full-moon: fall and rise in a single day”
What a fantastic series of photos. To your comment that it took ” luck, a bit of dedication, and a good warm fleece …” I would add — skill. Well done!
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Hi, Catherine. It’s true: it’s been through a lot of trial and error with the thousands of exposures I’ve made, and learning what my camera can and cannot do in a variety of situations. A special situation comes up, and I like to think that I’m ready. I’m always surprised by some little thing that happens. For example, early in the morning, I’d forgotten how still a city can be at that hour. Thanks for reading and for your kind comment! 🙂
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