Lunar Standstill Full Moon

The June 2025 full moon occurred during a major lunar standstill: an event that happens every 18.6 years, where the Moon is lowest in the sky. Lunar standstills last for approximately two years and we see the Moon rising and setting furthest north.

The ratio of the polar diameter of the Moon to it’s equatorial diameter is about 99.9%, but the photograph shows it as 97.9% by a simple pixel count, due to refraction of light by the Earth’s atmosphere, caused predominantly by the Moon being low in the sky.

This photograph was taken from the centre of the Nine Stones Close, or Grey Ladies stone circle on Harthill Moor in Derbyshire, England. Seven standing stones arranged in a 13.7 metre diameter circle were recorded in 1847, but today only four remain and are among the largest in any stone circle in the county.

Earth-Moon distance: 396 846 km
Moon Altitude: 7° 25’
Exposure: f/9.5, 1/60s, ISO-400
Focal Length: 1000 mm

Nikon D800
Vixen A105M Achromatic Refractor
Skywatcher Skytee 2 Mount

GIMP: colour temperature, curves, exposure, sharpen, crop.