A local astronomy lecturer says this photo of the moon taken through his telescope from Burnham seafront this week shows the quantity of ash and dust in the upper atmosphere following this week’s volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Greg Dye-Hodge Beardsley, pictured, told Burnham-On-Sea.com on Saturday: “I was on the seafront with a small telescope looking for the planets Venus and Mercury.”
“As the sun set, a distinct pink glow formed somewhat above the normal region above the setting sun called the zone of Venus.”
“This additional zone of light pink was quite probably associated with the dust in the upper atmosphere from this week’s eruption in Iceland.”
The volcano ash has caused widespread travel disruption across the UK and Europe in recent days, with airports closed to all aeroplanes.
Greg, who is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a lecturer in astronomy, added: “Sweeping the sky for the two elusive planets in the still bright sky, I came across a very slender New Moon.”
“At first it was not possible to see the slim crescent in the bright sky but as the evening darkened it became visible but only if one knew where to look. The crescent was only 0.3% of the full Moon disc.”
