Astrophoto: A 'Mistakenly' Beautiful View of the Crescent Moon and Leaning Tower of Pisa

By Nancy Atkinson - July 03, 2014 04:48 PM UTC | Planetary Science

A mistake led to this stunning image of the crescent Moon and the Tower of Pisa this week.

Astrophotographer Giuseppe Petricca from Italy had in mind a certain shot he wanted to take of the crescent Moon on June 29. "So I went out during the evening to do so," he told Universe Today via email. "Unfortunately, I totally miscalculated the time! But, luckily, in the end, I managed to get an even more captivating shot."

The Moon has a bit of Earthshine and a reddish glow from its low elevation in the sky, snuggling up to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. "Truly a beautiful combination and an awesome scenery. Impossible to not take a picture of it!" Giuseppe said.

This photograph was taken with a Nikon Coolpix P90 Bridge Camera on tripod, ISO 100, f4.5, 2.5" exposure.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com