By Ron Cowen
Partially hidden by mountains, a glowing orange orb rises over golden stacks of wheat. Vincent van Gogh’s “Moonrise” depicts a scene in Provence with the painter’s unmistakable palette of brilliant, swirling colors.
Historians have long debated exactly when in 1889 van Gogh created the painting. Astronomical detectives report that they have now solved the mystery: The artist captured the rising moon as it appeared at 9:08 p.m. local mean time on July 13, 1889.