L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano " Cathedral, Moun- t a i n , M o o n " h a s b e e n s e l e c t e d b y N A S A a s t h e A s t r o n o m i c a l P i c t u r e o f t h e D a y f o r D e c e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 2 3 . T h e photo was taken by a young p h o t o g r a p h e r f r o m P i e d - m o n t , V a l e r i o M i n a t o , originally from the province of Biella and, since 2005, a resident of Turin where he has worked as a photograph- er since 2012. What's special about this p h o t o g r a p h ? T h e p e r f e c t a l i g n m e n t b e t w e e n t h e Basilica of Superga, Monvi- s o , a n d t h e M o o n . T h e Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), a website man- a g e d b y N A S A a n d t h e M i c h i g a n T e c h n o l o g i c a l U n i v e r s i t y ( M T U ) s i n c e 1995, provides a different image of our Universe every day, accompanied by a brief e x p l a n a t i o n w r i t t e n b y a professional astronomer. When did you decide to enter the NASA con- test? The shot was taken on the e v e n i n g o f D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 2023. The next day I posted it on my social media chan- n e l s a n d i t i m m e d i a t e l y r e c e i v e d a v e r y p o s i t i v e response. I was aware of the existence of NASA's contest but had never thought about it. However, a lot of people s u g g e s t e d i t t o m e i n t h e comments and, after getting information from their web- site, I decided to give it a try. When did you get the response? The next day, I received a r e p l y f r o m R o b e r t J . Nemiroff of Michigan Tech- nological University & NASA a s k i n g f o r p r o o f t h a t t h e photo was authentic. I pro- vided the original, unmodifi- able file from the camera and explained the post-pro- duction process, which was my work on lights and con- trasts. I also sent some back- s t a g e p h o t o s t o s h o w t h e making of the shot. A few d a y s l a t e r , I r e c e i v e d t h e response: "Your photo will be the astronomical picture of the day for Christmas." It was incredible! The fact that i t w a s a l s o o n C h r i s t m a s m a d e i t e v e n m o r e beautiful. The alignment in the photo is quite distinc- tive. I assume it wasn't just a lucky shot. How did you prepare for it? In a photo like this, noth- ing is left to coincidence. T h e c o n c e p t c a m e t o m e back in 2017. Roaming the hills north of Turin, particu- l a r l y a r o u n d C h i v a s s o , Castagneto Po, and San Raf- faele Cimena, I found sever- al spots perfect for capturing both the Basilica of Superga and Monviso. After numer- o u s v i s i t s a n d t h o r o u g h s c o u t i n g o v e r s e v e r a l m o n t h s , I i d e n t i f i e d f o u r s p o t s w h e r e S u p e r g a a n d Monviso line up just right. These spots are on the same line but vary in height. The l o w e r t h e v i e w p o i n t , t h e closer together Superga and Monviso seem. This is the spot I used on December 15, because from a higher posi- tion, although they align, they appear more distant in perspective. Once you had the per- fect spot, how did you d e c i d e t o i n c l u d e t h e Moon? After pinpointing these locations, I experimented with shooting them at differ- ent times. I knew I needed something special to elevate t h e p h o t o , s o I t h o u g h t , "Why not try aligning it with the Sun or the Moon?" The Sun was a no-go, so I turned to the. Its various phases a n d p o s i t i o n s r e a c h a n a z i m u t h a n g l e o f 2 3 0 degrees. With this in mind, I researched the Moon's phas- es, marked potential dates o n m y c a l e n d a r , a n d planned the exact moments I could capture that shot. How many attempts did it take you? S i n c e 2 0 1 7 , t h e r e h a v e b e e n s i x t r i e s . F o u r w e r e ruined by bad weather, then there was a successful align- ment in June 2022, but from a higher spot, so the per- spective was broader. I was pleased, but it wasn't the shot I had in mind, which was from the lower point. The sixth try was the charm – the sky was clear! How did the success- ful shot go? R e a l l y w e l l , e s p e c i a l l y because the Moon was in a waxing phase. This meant that in the photo, not only was its crescent lit up, but so was the left part, its shad- owed side. That part is lit by reflected light, also known as Da Vinci's glow, named after him because he was the o n e w h o t h e o r i z e d a b o u t why the Moon's shadowed side is illuminated. During the early days of the waxing and waning Moon phases, in the twilight, the shadowed part is visible because the Sun's light reflects off the earth and hits the Moon's shadowed side, giving it a greyish, silvery hue. This allowed the light to outline Monviso's silhouette on the left as well. What did you feel at t h a t m o m e n t , o n t h e sixth attempt? I was pretty nervous, wor- r i e d a b o u t m i s t r i s i n g o r miscalculating something. But when the magic moment c a m e , w h e n t h e M o o n ' s c r e s c e n t b e g a n t o t o u c h Monviso's left side exactly where I expected, it aligned perfectly within two min- utes. During the shot, I was shaking with joy and excite- ment. H o w l o n g d i d t h e alignment last? Just a fraction of a sec- ond. When you're working w i t h s u c h a l o n g f o c a l length, the Moon moves sig- nificantly across the frame in no time. If I had shot a second too early or too late, I'd have had a nice photo but not perfectly aligned. W e r e y o u a l w a y s interested in astronomy, or did you delve into it for these shots? I got into astronomy by doing this kind of photogra- p h y . O v e r t h e y e a r s , I ' v e built up a good deal of expe- rience, so now I can fairly accurately calculate and pre- dict the movements of our star, the Sun, and our satel- lite, the Moon. Was the choice of the Basilica of Superga only b e c a u s e o f t h e a l i g n - ment? The basilica is one of the symbols of Turin and Pied- mont. It's iconic and also s a d l y f a m o u s f o r t h e a i r crash of the great Torino f o o t b a l l t e a m o n M a y 4 , 1949, which occurred right b e h i n d t h e b a s i l i c a . T h i s photo evoked a lot of emo- tion, especially among Tori- no Calcio fans who wrote to me, moved because they saw the photo as a tribute to the "Grande Torino." Besides that, its position on the hill- top was just perfect. I n t h e p a s t , y o u ' v e done a similar shot with the Basilica of Superga a n d t h e M a t t e r h o r n , w h i c h a r e q u i t e f a r apart... I'm particularly proud of that shot because I was the first to do it. Returning from a t r i p i n t h e L a n g h e , I noticed the Matterhorn was clearly visible, majestically r i s i n g f r o m t h e P r e a l p s . T h a t ' s w h e n I t h o u g h t o f photographing it with some- thing else distinctly Turinese – the Basilica of Superga, which is a good 150km away from the Matterhorn. But that's what I love about pho- t o g r a p h y – c h a l l e n g i n g myself and doing the seem- ingly impossible. NASA awards Italian photographer Valerio Minato's shot SILVIA NITTOLI "Cathedral, Mountain, Moon" by Valerio Minato (Photo courtesy of Valerio Minato) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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