SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
phoralek
Location of Photo:
Soneva Fushi, Maldives
Date/Time of photo:
6 February 2023, around 6am local time
Equipment:
For this image, I used Canon Ra, Tamron 70-200mm (f4.0). The lunar sequence was done with one exposure per 3 minutes (1/15s, ISO 100, F2.8) with the Tamron lens.
Description:
In the image from 6 February 2023, the Full Moon sets over Soneva Fushi Island, Maldives, while the beach is illuminated by dawn, and also paths of past ocean waves are made visible thanks to the bioluminescence of plankton. Due to the equatorial location of the island, the Moon sets practically perpendicular to the horizon and its color and brightness change as its image is gradually weakened by the Earth's atmosphere. In fact, at that time the Moon was not only full but also very close to apogee point, most distant from Earth on its elliptic orbit. So it was a little bit smaller and less bright than usual. Such a moment occurs often once a year and the next case will happen on Saturday, Feb. 24, just about 1 day and 2,5 hours before the Moon reaches its apogee point, 406 314 km from Earth.
