Major Lunar Standstill 2024-2025
Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, planet Earth lies on the horizon.
in this stack of panoramic composite images.
In a monthly time series arranged vertically top to bottom
the ambitious photographic project
follows the annual north-south swing of sunrise points, from
June solstice
to December solstice and back again.
It also follows the corresponding, but definitely harder to track,
Full Moon rise.
Of course, the north-south swing of moonrise runs opposite
sunrise along the horizon.
But these rising Full Moons also span a wider range on the horizon
than the sunrises.
That's because the well-planned project
(as shown in this video)
covers the period June 2024 to
June 2025,
centered on a major lunar standstill.
Major lunar standstills
represent extremes in the north-south range of moonrise driven by the
18.6 year precession
period of the lunar orbit.