Time-lapse: Crescent Moon dips behind Oceanside's singed pier diner

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Though his artist's eye was searching for SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch Thursday, a North County photographer found himself capturing the picturesque descent of a Waxing Moon instead.

"Rocket launch was just a tad too late, and the sun was too low below the horizon to illuminate the rocket well," explained Vladimir Medvinsky, who posted up near the iconic Oceanside Pier around 8:20 p.m. with hopes of photographing contrasts worth freezing in time.

He accomplished just that.

On Sept. 5, 2024, Earth's celestial neighbor was in a Waxing Gibbous phase, meaning its illumination -- brightened, of course, by the Sun -- was at 70%. Only visible as a slender arc-shape, the Crescent Moon appeared to hide behind the singed diner that sits on the end of the pier.

The former restaurant, now held in the memory of many North County locals as a once nostalgic meeting place, caught fire this past April. Known as the old Ruby's Diner, the then-vacant building faced its final demise during the firefight.

Medvinsky was able to snap a photographic time-lapse of Thursday's rising Crescent Moon, as seen in the compilation below:

Was the Crescent Moon offering a solemn nod to the singed diner? Only the universe knows.