Moon August 14 (Tanzania, Zanzibar)

Photographed from Zanzibar on August 14 , this waning last-quarter Moon reveals a phase about 22 days into the lunar cycle . At this point, sunlight falls at a grazing angle on the lunar surface, casting long shadows along the terminator —the boundary between lunar day and night that makes landforms particularly visible .

Among the geological structures identifiable by eye (or telephoto lens), we can recognize the craters Tycho , at the origin of large ejected rays, and Clavius ​​, one of the largest impact craters visible from Earth, formed more than 3 billion years ago . These formations bear witness to the violent meteorite collisions that shaped the visible face of the Moon.

The coppery hue observed here is not specific to the Moon itself, but to the phenomenon of atmospheric diffusion : when the Moon is low on the horizon, its light passes through a larger layer of atmosphere, scattering short waves (blue) in favor of warm wavelengths (orange, red). This coloration therefore varies according to the lunar altitude and the degree of pollution or humidity present in the air.