When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.The first quarter moon shines over the city of Yorba Linda, California in March 2026. | Credit: Zachary CooperAstrophotographer Zachary Cooper created this magnificent view of March’s first quarter moon, using clever editing to reveal dramatic detail and shadows on the sunlit side, while also capturing the ethereal glow of “earthshine” on its shadowed half. Here’s how he did it.Cooper set out to photograph the moon using an 80 millimeter (3.14 inch) refractor telescope and ZWO astronomy camera as it glowed half-lit in the skies above the city of Yorba Linda, California, on March 25.AdvertisementAdvertisementDark lunar seas, bright young craters and dramatic shadows dominate the moon’s ancient surface near the line where night and day collide, known as the terminator — or, as Cooper calls it, the “sunset strip”.However, this is no ordinary picture of the waxing moon. It’s a clever composite, created by capturing and merging multiple photos with different settings to tease out detail on both the sunlit and shadowed sides of the lunar disk.”Many people are surprised to learn that the night side of the Moon, when facing Earth, isn’t actually completely dark. Sunlight reflecting off the oceans and clouds of Earth slightly illuminates the unlit portion of the Moon, in a phenomenon known as “Earthshine.” However, this gentle glow is incredibly dim when compared to the illuminated side, and it’s impossible to properly capture both in one photograph.”Cooper’s telescope and astronomy camera at work imaging the lunar disk. | Credit: Zachary CooperTo compensate, Cooper captured 150 individual 5-millisecond exposures of the moon and combined the best 15 frames to create a detailed view of the sunlit half. He then took a further 100 5-second exposures, combining the top 10 frames to reveal faint earths …
