AstrophotographerAndrew McCarthyis always looking to further his craft and wow us with his capabilities.
Made from 280,000 photos, the 1.3 gigapixel image is aptly titledGigaMoon.
It’s a photograph that McCarthy has been chasing for quite some time.
Luckily, on April 29, everything aligned, and he was able to complete his vision.
Photographing the Moon in this much detail is arduous because of the atmospheric conditions.
Changes in temperates in the different layers of the atmosphere can cause warping and make the Moon appear blurry.
Even in the best conditions, McCarthylikensit to capturing through water with how much the atmosphere distorts each image.
He did this using a Newtonian telescope equipped with a full-frame CMOS camera.
After all was said and done, it was then time for post-production.
This entails stacking the images and then stitching them together by hand in Photoshop.
After several days of tweaking the alignment and coloration,GigaMoonwas ready to be revealed.
To really get into the rich detail, McCarthy hasa landing pagewhere anyone can zoom in and explore.
He’s also selling fine art prints ofGigaMoononhis website, and has the full-image download available for hisPatreon supporters.
