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Capturing the Supermoon
While preparing to share their love of the cosmos with some of their peers, Shawnigan students in the Astronomy Imaging and Outreach 360 took advantage of the conditions to create some stunning images of Monday’s supermoon.
The students were setting up field telescopes outside the observatory when they pulled out their cell phones, painstakingly aligned them with the telescope eyepieces, and took photos of the dazzling Moon. They used filters on their phones to bump up the contrast and make the images more compelling. Viewed from Earth, the features of the Moon don’t stand out the way they do in the filtered photos. But Bryce T., Owen V. and Berkley W. knew some tricks to make them pop, and shared their knowledge with Ethan F. and Mateo T.
“It’s a pretty dramatic result from a pretty simple technique,” said Mr. Nigel Mayes, who oversees the Astronomy 360.
“Supermoon” is not an astronomic term, but in fact comes from the non-scientific field of astrology. It refers to a full moon that nearly coincides with perigee, the closest that the moon comes to the Earth in its orbit. This week’s supermoon was also a harvest moon, which is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox – the equinox took place on September 22.
Besides the supermoon images the students created on Monday, they also engage in more sophisticated astronomical photography through the Astronomy 360 program – which is a unique amalgamation of science and art – generating images over hours of class time by combining photos of celestial objects they take in the red, green and blue colour model. The outreach portion of the program includes sharing their knowledge with the rest of the School, local families, and community groups such as Girl Guide troops.
The next phase in the program this year will see the students move to the larger telescope inside the observatory dome, with more experienced students taking leadership roles. Part of that will involve making robotic observations by setting the telescope ahead of time to run around the clock and track as many as 10 targets at a time.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
