~ Penumbral Eclipsed Full Moon for Easter on the 23rd March 2016 ~

~ Full Moon Rising 23rd March 2016 ~

~ Penumbral Eclipsed Full Moon for Easter on the 23rd March 2016 ~

​You will notice a slight darkening on the top right hand corner of the Moon due to a slight graze of a penumbral lunar eclipse…its ever so slight, but it’s there!
 
It’s also so nice to see that this special lunar event is still very relevant in our world today…even if your not religious, everyone still enjoys the Easter holidays :-)
 
Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full Moon that falls after the spring equinox, (21st March approximately) or autumnal equinox, if you live in the southern hemisphere, like I do. This is why the date for Easter can sometimes be celebrated in either March or April.
 
Depending on your latitude on Earth, you’ll see the lunar disc orientated differently; here in Australia we view the Moonrise with South near the right hand top.
 
The first image was taken as the Moon was rising with a Canon 70D camera and a Canon 100-400 mm lens set at 400mm, ISO 500 and 1/90th second exposure.
 
The other two images were taken with a 127mm refractor at prime focus using a Canon 70D camera, ISO 100 and exposures were 1/500th second. There were 6 images stacked in Registax 6 and processed in PS CS4, I outlined the bunny with the pencil tool in PS.

~ Outline of the shape of a bunny on the Moon ~

Sometimes I use the shapes of the main lunar seas to help young children learn the surface features of the Moon. 
The ears are the two lunar seas (left) Sea of Fertility (right) Sea of Nectar, (The Face) Sea of Tranquillity, (The body) Sea of Serenity and at Easter time the Sea of Crisis becomes an Easter egg.

This is just a fun way to teach them about our Moon at this time of the year.
~ Have a Happy and safe Easter to All ~