ASTRONOMY

On social media I'm seeing more and more photographs of the night sky taken by non-astronomers. Some of them are outstanding and I applaud their fidelity.

Reality or trickery? Look for the clues.

However, as with expensive watches offered to us at low prices at some holiday destinations, some are out and out fakes and some are by professional photographers. I don't mind people creating fantasy images in Photoshop, but claiming they are individual images produced without computer trickery makes them fair game for exposure.

There's one mistake common these fakers make that requires just some clear thinking to reveal: ask yourself, is the moon in front or behind the clouds? Of course, it's impossible for the moon to be inside the Earth's atmosphere, so the former is plainly a fake. It's just downright stupid. Yet every week I see at least one such image on social media, with people praising its quality, no less.