http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/07/11/vangogh.moonrise/index.html
My question is: Is it really as big a mystery as the article is making it out to be? I can see how it would be kind of interesting to know but are there really people who have laid awake at night wondering just when Van Gogh painted this particular painting?
Yes. The moon was unusually large and colorful in the painting so the question became “did he fudge?” The position and color were rare. This certainly wasn’t a monthly occurrence.
They were able to document the exact day and time it actually would have been like this, thus theoretically at least suggesting he painted realistically and the date it occurred.
NPR had a bit on this a week or so back as well.