Wolf Moon and the Parthenon (1/2)

by Anthony Ayiomamitis

The image above is the latest effort and result whose purpose is to catch the rising and/or setting sun and moon against well-known landmarks in Greece. An earlier effort involving the rising full moon against the Parthenon (447-438 BC) in central Athens was realized in Oct/2007 when Luna was captured from Philopappou Hill and approximately 700 meters to the west of the Parthenon as well as a much longer distance effort and which involved the rising moon partially hidden by Mt Ymittos in Jan/2010.

The result above was taken from a slightly greater distance so as to yield a much better aspect ratio between the rising perigee full moon and the Parthenon. The primary task in such an exercise is to identify the optimal time after sunset which yields a perfect balance between the bright full moon and the natural lighting of the archaelogical grounds. From a previous exercise involving the Temple of Poseidon, this was established to be approximately 25 minutes after sunset and, more specifically, when the sun has already set and is approximately four to six degrees below the horizon. Once the perspective of the Parthenon with respect to its physical azimuth and altitude from my shooting location southwest of the Parthenon was precisely reverse engineered, the final exercise involved the identification of the "proper" full moon during the calendar year which would simultaneously meet the above criteria with respect to lighting balance (full moon and archaeological grounds) as well as azimuth and altitude as closely as possible. 

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