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Astronomy Image of the Day

Iridescent by Moonlight

04 December 2021

Marcella Giulia Pace

NASA Astronomy Image of the Day for 04 December 2021

In this snapshot from November 18, the Full Moon was not far from Earth's shadow. In skies over Sicily the brightest lunar phase was eclipsed by passing clouds though. The full moonlight was dimmed and momentarily diffracted by small but similar sized water droplets near the edges of the high thin clouds. The resulting iridescence shines with colors like a lunar corona. On that night, the Full Moon was also seen close to the Pleiades star cluster appearing at the lower left of the iridescent cloud bank. The stars of the Seven Sisters were soon to share the sky with a darker, reddened lunar disk.

Image and explanation courtesy of NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day