At first glance, it would have forgiven you for confusing these images with a scene from the latest blockbuster science fiction.
But it’s very real and it looks in dramatic detail, how much the moon “oscillates” in the sky during each 27-day orbit.
Monthly photographer Andrew McCarthy spent hundreds of hours on 22 consecutive nights, taking thousands of photos of the month as it rose and then fell into almost a full orbit.
While “swing”, known as libration, is a well-known phenomenon, the incredible images show how much the angle of the moon changes as it rotates.
“The moon always keeps the same face for us, but not exactly the same face. Due to the inclination and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles during a month “, explains NASA.
“When a moon is compressed in 24 seconds, our changing vision of the moon seems to falter. This movement is called libration, of balance, scale.
Mr. McCarthy, based in California, USA, wanted to show for the first time the exact movement of the moon in the sky during a lunar month.
He said he was shocked to see up close how much the angle of the moon changes as it rotates.
His 40-second video, made up of thousands of images carefully aligned with each other, appears to show the moon making a small “motion” as it orbits, which McCarthy described as a “cosmic dance.”
The change also allows observers to see many of the moon’s craters from different angles and in different lights.
Posting the video on Instagram, McCarthy wrote: “In the last month, I’ve been working on the biggest project so far – an attempt to really show the unmistakable spherical nature of the moon.
By capturing a high-resolution image of the moon every night for 22 days, we captured the “libation,” which is the apparent balance of our moon.
“Closed in an eternal cosmic dance, this small movement is caused by the angle of the Moon’s elliptical orbit and the position of the observer.
“The moon itself does not shake, but only orbits.
Due to the inclination and shape of its orbit, from Earth we see the Moon from slightly different angles during a month.
When a moon is compressed in 24 seconds, as in Andrew’s video, our changing view of the moon seems to shake.
“However, the side we see changes little, because the orbit is angular and elliptical, so you can see other parts, depending on where it is in the sky relative to the observer.
“I’ve also come close to some of my favorite functions, where depth really comes to life.”
Andrew added that this was his most challenging project to date, saying: “I wanted to do this when I first got into astrophotography.
“The challenge is to have enough clear nights in a row to set it in motion.
“Some nights when the conditions were ideal, I could do them in 30 minutes, other nights I spent hours waiting for the conditions to improve.
“Liberation is a well-known phenomenon, but I didn’t realize how dramatic the difference would be.
Monthly photographer Andrew McCarthy spent hundreds of hours on 22 consecutive nights, taking thousands of photos of the month as it rose and then fell into almost a full orbit.
Each final image that turned it into Andrew’s short video is actually a mosaic assembled from hundreds of photos – to get past any atmospheric “turbulence” that could distort an image.
“Many features, such as the Clavius crater, completely change the angle as the moon rotates them away from the observer.
“This really adds a level of depth to these features I didn’t expect.”
Each final image that turned it into Andrew’s short video is actually a mosaic assembled from hundreds of photos – to get past any atmospheric “turbulence” that could distort an image.
Andrew said: “This project took hundreds of hours to complete and involved millions of frames and terabytes of data.
McCarthy said: “The work behind each frame was already great, so manually aligning each image and creating a smooth animation that showed the desired level of detail was a test of patience.”
While “swinging” is a well-known phenomenon, incredible images show how much the angle of the moon changes as it rotates.
“The work involved behind each frame was already great, so manually aligning each image and creating a smooth animation that showed the level of detail I wanted was a test of patience.
“My favorite phases are generally on the declining side of the moon, which is also the hardest to capture.
“The stark contrast between the few prominent prominent craters, such as Aristarchus and Copernicus, with smooth Mary, makes a wonderful composition.”
Scientists disagree on how the moon formed, but many believe it was the result of an impact between the earth and another planet.
Many researchers believe that the moon formed after the Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago.
This is called the huge impact hypothesis.
The theory suggests that the moon is made up of debris left over from a collision between our planet and a body about 4.5 billion years ago.
The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, after the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the moon.
Many researchers believe that the moon formed after the Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago. This is called the huge impact hypothesis
But a mystery persisted, revealed by rocks that Apollo astronauts brought from the moon: Why are the Moon and Earth so similar in their composition?
Over the years, several different theories have emerged to explain the similar footprints of the Earth and the moon.
Perhaps the impact created a huge cloud of debris that mixed well with the Earth and then condensed to form the moon.
Or Theia could have happened to be chemically similar to the young Earth.
A third possibility is that the moon is made of earth materials, rather than Theia, although this would have been a very unusual type of impact.