The evolving face of the moon has been a source of endless fascination and speculation since humanity first ventured to look up at the night sky. For former NASA aerospace engineer Jim Nickelson, the moon is the model when it comes to the Adventures in Celestial Mechanics series, a photo set comprising the year 2014’s worth of full moons at moonrise and moonset.
Nickelson’s project statement explains, “The project name derives from the delightfully-named textbook (written by my professor, Dr. Szebehely) that captured the beauty and majesty of the equations underlying orbital mechanics. For moonrise of the full moon results from an important phase of the celestial dance between the Earth, Sun, and Moon—when all three bodies are aligned and one can stand on the Earth with the sunset at your back and moon rising right in front of you. (Moonset results from a similar alignment at sunrise).”
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Bearing the traditional title for each different type of moon (“Harvest Moon,” “Rice Moon,” etc.), the result is like a “best hits” image mixtape of our closest cousin in the solar system. Nickelson’s lunar photographs will be on display from January 1 through February 14 at the 555 Gallery in Boston. Below, check out more of Jim Nickelson’s Adventures in Celestial Mechanics series:
“Blue Moon I” by Jim Nickelson
“Dancing Moon I” by Jim Nickelson
“Dog Days Moon I” by Jim Nickelson
“Dragon Moon I” by Jim Nickelson
“Harvest Moon” by Jim Nickelson
“Rice Moon” by Jim Nickelson
“Thunder Moon II” by Jim Nickelson
Click here to visit Jim Nickelson’s website.
H/t New Yorker
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