I am a member of the Facebook group Backroads of Texas which often posts stunning photos. The one on the left is one of them. Moonlight is so extraordinarily versatile. It can be ominous, evoking fear or transcendent, appearing almost holy. When couples are bathed in moonlight, it is time for a romantic interlude. Everyone seems to look and act their best in moonlight — except for Freddy Krueger types. There are never any movie or TV squabbles or fights in gentle moonlight; they are often in the middle of a raging downpour. Moonlight seems to soften our rough edges, making us kind and sympathetic, or it can make us appear intelligent and thoughtful — like we are pondering the future of the planet. Of course, it can also be creepy, bringing forth unknown monsters. Moonlight is a mysterious force. Let’s learn more about it.
According to Wikipedia, moonlight consists of mostly sunlight — with little earthlight — reflected from the parts of the moon's surface where the sun's light strikes.
Illumination
The intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on the lunar phase, but even the full moon typically provides only about 0.05–0.1 lux illumination. When a full moon around perigee — a "supermoon" — is viewed around upper culmination from the tropics, the illuminance can reach up to 0.32 lux. From Earth, the apparent magnitude of the full moon is only about 1⁄380,000 that of the sun.
The color of moonlight, particularly around full moon, appears bluish to the human eye compared to most artificial light sources due to the Purkinje effect, the tendency for the peak luminance sensitivity of the eye to shift toward the blue end of the color spectrum at low illumination levels as part of dark adaptation.
The Moon's bond albedo is 0.12, meaning only 12% of incident sunlight is reflected from the lunar surface. Bond albedo is the fraction of power in the total electromagnetic radiation incident on an astronomical body that is scattered back out into space. Moonlight takes approximately 1.26 seconds to reach Earth's surface. Scattered in Earth's atmosphere, moonlight generally increases the brightness of the night sky, reducing contrast between dimmer stars and the background. For this reason, many astronomers usually avoid observing sessions around a full moon.
Moonbow
A moonbow — also known as a moon rainbow, white rainbow or feelybow — is a rainbow produced by moonlight rather than direct sunlight. Other than the difference in the light source, its formation is the same as for a solar rainbow. It is caused by the refraction of light in many water droplets — such as a rain shower or a waterfall — and is always positioned in the opposite part of the sky from the moon relative to the observer.
Moonbows are much fainter than solar rainbows, due to the smaller amount of light reflected from the surface of the moon. Because the light is usually too faint to excite the cone color receptors in human eyes, it is difficult for the human eye to discern colors in a moonbow. As a result, a moonbow often appears to be white. However, the colors in a moonbow do appear in long exposure photographs.
Moonbows have been mentioned at least since Aristotle's “Meteorology” circa 350 BC.
Moonbows are most easily viewed when the moon is at or nearest to its brightest phase full moon. For moonbows to have the greatest prospect of appearing, the moon must be low in the sky — at an elevation of less than 42 degrees, preferably lower — and must not be obscured by clouds. In addition, the night sky must be very dark. Since the sky is not completely dark on a rising/setting full moon, this means they can only be observed two to three hours before sunrise which is a time with few observers or two to three hours after sunset. And, of course, there must be water droplets e.g., from rain or spray opposite the moon. This combination of requirements makes moonbows much rarer than rainbows produced by the daytime sunlight. Moonbows may also be visible when rain falls during full moonrise at extreme latitudes during the winter months when the prevalence of the hours of darkness gives more opportunity for the phenomenon to be observed.
Numerous places in the world feature spray-, fog- or mist-induced bows. In the United States such bows may be seen in relation to various waterfalls including Niagara Falls, New York; Yosemite National Park, California; and Cumberland Falls, near Corbin, Kentucky. Victoria Falls — in Africa on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe — is also widely known for spray moonbows.
Spray moonbows are also seen with some regularity in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, in mountain towns like Monteverde and Santa Elena. These occur when clouds of mist are blown in from the Caribbean by the Christmas Winds. The Christmas Winds happen from the end of December through late January or early February. These clouds of mists create a streaming pattern of stripes giving rise to their popular name in Spanish, “pelo de gato” or "cat's hair. Moonbows happen in this part of Costa Rica almost every full moon in the months of December through February. The bows that are caused by pelo de gato are not limited to just before dawn but can happen after sunset too, but it does need a full or nearly full moon.
Moonbows are also found in Kauai, Hawaii, with the moon rising in the east during light rain. Similar bows are occasionally seen from the Big Island of Hawaii.
Folklore
In folklore, moonlight sometimes has a harmful influence. For example, sleeping in the light of a full moon on certain nights was said to transform a person into a werewolf. The light of the moon was thought to worsen the symptoms of lunatics and to sleep in moonlight could make one blind or mad. Nyctalopia — night blindness caused by a lack of vitamin A — was thought to be caused by sleeping in moonlight in the tropics.
"Moon blindness" is a name for equine recurrent uveitis. Moonlight is no longer thought of as the cause.
In the 16th century, moonmilk — a soft white limestone precipitate found in caves — was thought to be caused by the rays of the moon.
Moonlight in art
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
“The Starry Night” is an oil on canvas painting by Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. Widely regarded as Van Gogh's magnum opus, “The Starry Night” is one of the most recognized paintings in Western art.
“The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight” (1869) by Édouard Manet
“The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight” or “Moonlight over the Port of Boulogne” is an 1868 work by Édouard Manet. The work is now in the Musée d'Orsay.
Historical and astronomical research has demonstrated that it was produced about midnight on the night of August 3-4,1868 from a window of the Hôtel Folkestone on the quay at Boulogne-sur-Mer during one of the artist's regular summer stays in the town. It shows a fishing boat returning at night, watched by the fishermen's wives. Its shadows and light pay tribute to the work of Rembrandt.
“Seaport by Moonlight” (1771) by Claude Joseph Vernet
French philosopher Denis Diderot who served as chief editor of the Encyclopédie, one of the principal works of the Age of Enlightenment, from The Salon of 1767, “Consider carefully the men busy reviving a woman collapsed by a fire they've built beneath a rock, then pronounce this to be one of the most interesting groups imaginable. And how this touching scene is lit! How the reddish glow of the fire washes over it! What contrast between the pale, weak light of the moon and the strong, red, sad and somber light of the flames! It's not every painter who can oppose such discordant phenomena as these and remain harmonious, who can avoid falsifying the point where two lights meet and blend, generating special luster."
"Halny" 1895, by Stanisław Witkiewicz
According to Kate Moyes article “The Halny: Poland’s Legendary Mountain Wind” at local-life.com, the mysterious power of the Halny wind has for centuries submerged Poland's artists in solemn clouds of inspiration. An irresistible muse, many of the country's greatest poets, painters, photographers, sculptors and filmakers have attempted in vain to capture the essence of this ghostly force. Artists residing in the Polish Tatra Mountains had ample opportunity to observe and become obsessed by the primitive breath of the earth, so adept at playing the tempest. Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851 - 1915), with careful strokes of oil on canvas, strove to touch upon the true nature of this fearsome wind in his iconic painting "Wiatr halny," 1895 — now on display at The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukkienice Cloth Hall, as a part of the National Museum in Krakow. It has been touted as "one of the most unusual and original landscapes in Polish painting," and thus, its photo-realism — with no need for exaggeration — once more hints at the incredible effect this wind has on both land and soul.
“Dovedale by Moonlight” (1784) by Joseph Wright of Derby
“Dovedale by Moonlight,” 1784, is one of five paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby which uses the picturesque valley of Dovedale, 14 miles northwest of Wright's home town of Derby, as its subject. These paintings were sometimes made as pairs with one showing the view by day and the other by moonlight. Its companion piece, “Dovedale by Sunlight” (circa 1784–1785) captures the colors of day. Wright admitted that he had not observed this scene directly, "Moon lights & fire lights are but a sort of work with me for I cant with impunity go out at night and study the former, & the latter I have seen but once, and at a time too, when I thought not of painting such effects."
Dovedale is a very popular dale in Staffordshire and Wright's home county of Derbyshire. Admired in Wright's time, it has been owned by the National Trust since 1924 and made available to the many Peak District visitors. Dovedale is named for the River Dove and it is 3 miles long.
Wright's paintings appear to be from nature, but in a letter of 1787 he said that he had observed moonlight and firelight only once at night and this was some time before he decided to create this series of paintings. However, his preparatory sketches show that he was using a mixture of studies and chance. The unusual reversal of light and shade in the trees in the sketch of Dovedale is said to be after using techniques created by the Russian born Alexander Cozens. Wright owned paintings by Cozens who taught his students to paint landscapes. He told them to create blots on paper and then use these as inspiration for the composition.
“Dovedale by Moonlight” hangs in the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College.
“A Philosopher in a Moonlit Churchyard” (1790) by Philip James de Loutherbourg
According to the article “Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Romantic Imagination: Room 4” at tate.org.uk, in “A Philosopher in a Moonlit Churchyard,” a figure stands in the overgrown ruins of an abbey, contemplating the remnants of an old painting showing the Resurrection. Above the figure of Christ, a sundial throws a long moonlight shadow, suggesting the imminence of death and the possibility of Christian salvation. The ruin is identifiable as Tintern Abbey in the Wye Valley. It was one of the most visited tourist sites of the late 18th century, favored because of its emotive historical associations with the Protestant Reformation.
“Moonlight” – 2016 film
“Moonlight” is a 2016 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished semi-autobiographical play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” It stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali.
The film presents three stages in the life of the main character: his childhood, adolescence and early adult life. It explores the difficulties he faces with his sexuality and identity, including the physical and emotional abuse he endures growing up. Filmed in Miami, Florida, beginning in 2015, “Moonlight” premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016. It was released in the United States on October 21, 2016 by A24 — an American independent entertainment company founded August 20, 2012, by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges — receiving universal acclaim and grossing over $65 million worldwide.
“Moonlight” has been cited as one of the best films of the 21st century. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Best Supporting Actor for Ali and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jenkins and McCraney from a total of eight nominations, at the 89th Academy Awards. It became the first LGBTQ film, the first film with an all-black cast and the second-lowest-grossing film domestically behind “The Hurt Locker” to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Joi McMillon became the first black woman to be nominated for an editing Oscar, and Ali became the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar.
The score of “Moonlight” was composed by Nicholas Britell. Britell applied the chopped and screwed technique from hip hop remixes to orchestral music, producing a "fluid, bass-heavy score." The soundtrack, released on October 21, 2016, consists of 18 original cues by Britell along with others by Goodie Mob, Boris Gardiner and Barbara Lewis. A chopped and screwed version was released by OG Ron C and DJ Candlestick of The Chopstars.
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