Just before moonset - an infrared view of the one-day old crescent moon next to the Pleiades in the evening sky.

The moon's elevation was only about 1/2 degree above a sea level horizon. (The distant mountain range is 45 miles away, and a few thousand feet lower than the observing location. This means the mountains are at a negative elevation.)

The moon does not appear to be a circle, Instead, it's squashed flat because of atmospheric refraction.

Haze and dust layers are prominent.

Planetarium software says that I was shooting through about 30 airmasses for this image.

Taken from the mountains of southern New Mexico at an elevation of 9,000 feet.

I slightly boosted the visibility of the Pleiades stars in post processing.

#Moon #Pleiades #Astronomy #Astrophotography #Photography #Infrared #Monochrome #Optics #Refraction #Atmosphere