It has been barely a year since, on May 12, 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope showed the world the first image of Sgr A* aka the black hole that resides at the center of our galaxy. The EHT describes the image as follows, "Although we cannot see the black hole itself because it is completely dark, the glowing gas around it reveals a telltale signature: a dark central region (called a "shadow") surrounded by a bright ring. The new view captures light bent by the powerful gravity of the black hole, which is four million times more massive than our Sun." To celebrate this anniversary, I captured a very unusual alignment between the Moon and the galactic center with an angular separation of just 2° and 49'.
This image can be taken practically only once during the year-that is, at that one time when the Milky Way has just risen before the end of astronomical night and the Moon is a thin sickle. In this particular light condition, both the Moon and the Milky Way are visible at the same time without the glow of our satellite obscuring the nebulae of the galaxy. This allows the alignment between the Moon and Sgr A* to be clearly shown.
Finally, the image is shown as a painting where the sky blends with the geometric shapes of the Punta Ciriga bay in Sicily highlighting curves, lines, dots and triangles. While the bay captures the reflection of the Moon, the breakwaters invite the viewer to project into the depths of the cosmos.