A large, bright full moon appears to rest atop a central cross, with two other crosses nearby, all silhouetted against the night sky. The scene evokes a powerful, ethereal atmosphere.Josh Dury

A photographer has captured a poignant image of the paschal full Moon setting behind three crosses, signifying the coming of Easter.

The date of Easter changes each year, and that’s because the Christian holiday is tied to the paschal Moon, which is defined as the first full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox.

Photographer Josh Dury captured the paschal Moon as it sank behind three crosses in the village of Brent Knoll in Somerset, England. The crosses have been erected in Brent Knoll each year for 40 years to mark the start of Holy week.

“I was drawn to the astronomical timing of ‘movable feasts’ based on the paschal full Moon,” Dury tells PetaPixel. Easter is not the only religious holiday tied to the spring full Moon: Passover, a major Jewish holiday that occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, will always fall on, or very close to, a full Moon.

A bright full moon glows in the night sky, positioned directly above three silhouetted crosses on a hill, creating a dramatic and luminous scene with the moon appearing like a halo.

Dury took the photo at 5.24 AM yesterday morning (Thursday) from a pedestrian path, which allowed him to line up the Moon and the three crosses. The astrophotographer used a Sigma 150-600mm Sport lens set at 600mm to bring the two elements closer together.

“PhotoPills, the photo-planning app, was used to confirm location when acquiring this image,” Dury notes. “The end result is an HDR image, which allows both the foreground scene and lunar detail to be documented.”

The paschal full Moon links Easter and Passover through their shared reliance on the lunar cycle. Passover is set by the Jewish calendar as a springtime festival that begins at a full Moon, while Easter was designed to follow the same general timing because of its connection to the events of Jesus’ crucifixion during Passover.

Rather than using the Jewish calendar directly, the Christian Church created the paschal full Moon — a calculated full Moon after the spring equinox that mirrors the timing. As a result, both holidays remain closely connected, typically falling around the same full Moon in spring, even though they are determined by different systems.

Space.com notes that Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

More of Dury’s work can be found on his website, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

Image credits: Photographs by Josh Dury.