This 'Brilliant' Moon Shot By Italian Photographer Has NASA's Attention

After years of planning and studying the phases and positioning of the moon, an Italian photographer managed to take a stellar photo. This photo not only raked in lakhs of likes but also got the approval of space research agency NASA. Valerio Minato managed to capture the moon, the Basilica of Superga’s dome, and Monte Viso, the highest mountain in the Cottian Alps in one frame.

He took this photo on December 15 at 6.52 pm. Ten days later the photo was picked as the “Astronomy Picture of the Day” for Christmas 2023 by NASA. So far this photo has over 3.5 lakh likes on Instagram.

A post shared by Valerio Minato (@valeriominato)

Commenting on it, an Instagram user wrote, “This is surreal absolutely brilliant composition love from India.” Another person wrote, “Picture of the day? I’d give him picture of the year! If he lined that up and got that timing done. He deserves it!!”

He also shared a time-lapse video that captured the perfect moment when the moon aligned with the mountain and the Basilica dome. This clip also gathered over 1.9 lakh likes.

A post shared by Valerio Minato (@valeriominato)

While talking to Italy 24 News, Valerio Minato mentioned that it took years to plan this perfect frame. He said, “I have been shooting since 2012, first in Turin, then in the surrounding area, to view the city from different points and distances. At a certain point I started looking for the point to have the dome of Superga and Monviso perfectly aligned. I spotted it in 2017 on a hill in the Chivassese area between San Raffaele Cimena and Castagneto Po, a 40-minute drive away. Since then the obsession was to have them both framed by a celestial body.”

He added, “I had to study the phases of the moon and the position of the moon on the horizon to the tenth of a degree of precision and of course the weather. But in the end it happened.”

A post shared by Valerio Minato (@valeriominato)

When the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) shared this photo on Facebook, the agency wrote, “Single shots like this require planning. The first step is to realize that such an amazing triple-alignment actually takes place. The second step is to find the best location to photograph it. But it was the third step: being there at exactly the right time — and when the sky was clear — that was the hardest.”