                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2021 August 26

                            A Blue Hour Full Moon
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

   Explanation: Nature photographers and other fans of planet Earth always
   look forward to the blue hour. That's the transition in twilight, just
   before sunrise or after sunset, when the Sun is below the horizon but
   land and sky are still suffused with a beautiful blue light. After
   sunset on August 21, this blue hour snapshot captured the nearly full
   Moon as it rose opposite the Sun, above the rugged Italian Alps from
   Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Sharing bluish hues with the sky, the rocky
   pyramid of Monte Antelao, also known as the King of the Dolomites, is
   the region's prominent alpine peak. The moonlight is yellow, but even
   so this full Moon was known to some as a seasonal Blue Moon. That's
   because by one definition the third full Moon of a season with four
   full moons in it is called a Blue Moon. Recognizing a season as the
   time between a solstice and an equinox, this season's fourth full Moon
   will be rising in the blue hour of September 20, just before
   September's equinox.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.


