That big moon is all in your head

Posted on by farlane
moon over Detroit by kare hav

Moon over Detroit by kare hav

The Farmer’s Almanac says that the July Full moon is known as the Buck Moon because that’s when the antlers of male deer are in full-growth mode. It’s officially full today (July 10) at 4:37pm EST, and if you watch it rise you’ll see it appear bigger due to the “Moon Illusion,” a phenomenon that occurs when the moon is close to the horizon.

Go out on the night of the full moon and find a good spot to watch it rise. It can be breathtaking, eliciting an awestruck “Wow!” from any skywatcher. When we observe the Moon near the horizon, it often looks HUGE – whether it’s peeking over the shoulder of a distant mountain, rising out of the sea, hovering behind a cityscape, or looming over a thicket of trees.

But here’s the thing: it’s all in your head. Really. The Moon’s seeming bigness is an actual illusion, rather than an effect of our atmosphere or some other physics.

…Photographers can simulate the Moon illusion by taking pictures of the Moon low on the horizon using a long lens, with buildings, mountains, or trees in the frame. So, remember when you see dazzling photos that feature a giant Moon above the landscape: those images are created by zooming in on distant objects near the ground. In other words, the Moon looks bigger in those photos because it’s a zoomed-in view.

kare hav took this photo of the July full moon rising over the Renaissance Center in Detroit back in 2018. The low blue lights on the right are Comerica Park, and the new Hudson Building would be right about where the moon is! See more in their Detroit gallery on Flickr.

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Supermoon Eclipse Tuesday night!

Posted on by farlane

Super Moon Total Lunar Eclipse by Kenneth Raymond

Bridge Michigan shares that the supermoon tomorrow night (September 17) could be (literally) overshadowed by another astronomical event, a partial lunar eclipse:

Full moons are likely every month, but supermoons, which occur when the moon is closest to Earth, are rarer. Only 25% of all full moons are supermoons, according to NASA. The next ones are Oct. 17 and Nov. 15. But the September supermoon will be brighter and red because of the partial lunar eclipse, which is when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, and casts its shadow on the moon.

“Supermoon is a popular science term for when full moons occur close to the perigee of the moon’s orbit about Earth,” said Seth Jacobson, natural science professor at Michigan State University.

“Lunar eclipses occur at full moons when the sun, Earth and moon are all in the same plane and in that order. In this case, the moon will simultaneously be closer and in almost the exact same plane, so we get a partial lunar eclipse and a supermoon at the same time. The chance of both occurring during the same full moon cycle is about 5% or once every one-and-a-half years,” Jacobson said.

The partial eclipse is predicted at 10:44.

I’ve featured this sweet shot Kenneth took this during the total lunar eclipse of Steptember 27, 2015 before & I will probably do so again! See more in his Night Sky gallery on Flickr and view & purchase his work on his website.

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Solstice Strawberry Moon

Posted on by farlane
Lake Michigan … strawberry moon by Ken Scott Photography

Lake Michigan … strawberry moon by Ken Scott Photography

Just like back in 2016 when Ken took this photo of the full moon over Sleeping Bear Bay, we will once again be staring at a big & beautifully full Strawberry Moon close to the summer solstice. According to the Farmer’s Almanac who popularized moon names in the 1930s, “strawberry moon” comes from the Native Algonquian tribes who lived in the northeastern US. The Ojibwe, Dakota & Lakota marked it as the full moon to be harvesting wild strawberries.

European names include the Honey Moon and the Mead Moon. Since June is named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno, you gotta believe this is where honeymoon comes from!! This year the moon will be full at 9:08pm tonight (Friday, June 21st).

See lots more at Ken Scott Photography on Facebook & for sure view and purchase his work on his website.

Lights in the Darkness

Posted on by farlane

Detroit lit up in red white and blue to honor medical professionals, first responders, service workers

Detroit lit up in red white and blue by kare hav

Here’s an absolutely stunning photo from yesterday that’s the latest cover for the Michigan in Pictures Facebook page. It shows the city of Detroit from across the Detroit River as it lights up the night in red white and blue to honor medical professionals, first responders & service workers.

They definitely need all our support. The Detroit Metro Times reports that the Covid-19 pandemic is hitting Detroit harder than New York City:

In just the past three days, Detroit’s death toll nearly doubled, reaching 221 on Tuesday. During that period, the city averaged more than 3o deaths a day. And public health officials warn that the worst is yet to come.

Detroit has a rate of 32.9 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people, compared to 21.2 deaths per 100,000 people in New York City. More than 5,500 Detroit residents have tested positive for COVID-19 — a nearly five-fold increase since March 27. With a severe shortage of testing kits, public health officials believe far many more Detroiters have been infected.

Mayor Mike Duggan has made it a priority to increase the city’s testing capacity. Frustrated by the slow pace of testing, Duggan led the creation of a regional site at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds at Eight Mile and Woodward, where he expects at least 14,000 people will be tested for COVID-19 over the next six weeks. During the first two days, 43% of the people who were tested were positive for the coronavirus. The city is also working with doctors who are willing to see patients who don’t have insurance.

“We’re going to make testing available to every single person in this city who needs [it],” Duggan said Thursday. “It is critical that every single Detroiter have access to this.”

Duggan said the city is now testing 800 people a day.

More than 150 Detroit Police Department employees, including Chief James Craig, have tested positive for COVID-19, and an additional 524 officers and police civilians were under quarantine, as of last week. At least 43 firefighters and medics also have confirmed infections, and more than 75 have been under quarantine.

Read the rest at the Metro Times & see more of Michigan’s largest city in Kare’s Detroit photo album.

Please feel welcome to share photos or info about ways your community is coming together to support medical & essential people in this dark time & please stay safe!!

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Freighterwatching & Moonchasing

Posted on by farlane

freighterwatching-moonchasing

Freighterwatching & Moonchasing, photo by Stephanie

MoonGiant’s page on the February full moon says:

The Full Moon for Feb. 2017 will occur in the afternoon of February 10th for the United States and just after midnight on February 11th for Europe.
 
February’s Full Moon is commonly known as the Full Snow Moon or Hunger Moon by the American Indians. The Apache Indians refered to it as the “frost sparkling in the sun” Moon while the Omaha Indians refefred to it as the “moon when geese come home”.

See Stephanie’s photo of a freighter on the St. Clair River taken in November of 2016 bigger, view more in her slideshow, and also check out Flickr’s Supermoon 2016 Gallery that features Stephanie’s photo along with pics from all over the world.

Tonight’s Hunter’s Moon … and November’s Extra Super Moon

Posted on by farlane

hunters-moon-october

Catching the Hunter’s Moon, photo by Brad Worrell

EarthSky notes that 2016 Hunter’s Moon is also a supermoon, explaining:

In some months, the full moon is closer to us in orbit than others. The 2016 Hunter’s Moon does happen to be particularly close. It’s near perigee, the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit. Perigee comes on October 16 at 23:36 UTC (translate to your time zone), about 19 hours after the crest of the moon’s full phase at 4:23 UTC on the same date. Nowadays, people call these close full moons supermoons.

Some don’t like the word supermoon … but we like it. Full moons at their closest to Earth do look brighter. They have a larger-than-usual effect on earthly tides. Although most of us can’t detect that a supermoon appears larger to the eye, very careful and experienced observers say it’s possible.

So you won’t likely see a bigger-than-usual moon (unless you see it near the horizon, an effect known as the moon illusion). But you can notice how brightly the moon is shining, especially on the nights of October 15 and 16!

Next month – in November 2016, the full moon and perigee (closest point) come even closer together to stage the largest full moon of the year on November 14. … That November 2016 full moon will feature the closest supermoon since 1948!

Tons more about the Hunter’s Moon on EarthSky!

View Brad’s photo bigger and seem more in his Not More Pictures of the Moon! slideshow (note: more pictures of the moon are there).

Christmas Full Moon and the Metonic Cycle

Posted on by farlane

Moon December 18 2015

Moon December 18 2015, photo by Dave in Michigan

EarthSky notes that the December full moon will be the first on Christmas since 1977:

This month, the December full moon falls on Friday, December 25, 2015. For Earth’s Western Hemisphere, it’s the first full moon on Christmas Day since 1977.We won’t have another full moon on a Christmas Day until 2034.

A 19-year cycle of the moon is the reason. Amazingly, the moon’s phases recur on (or near) the same calendar dates every 19 years. This cycle – known as the Metonic cycle – happens because 235 returns to full moon almost exactly equal 19 years. So, in other words, the phases of the moon realign (or nearly realign) with the same calendar dates every 19 years. We just missed a full moon on Christmas 19 years ago; instead, the full moon fell on Christmas Eve. It was December 24, 1996 at 20:41 Universal Time, or UT.

…In any year, the phases of the moon take place about 11 days earlier than in the previous year. For instance, the December 2016 full moon will happen on December 14, 2016, and the December 2017 full moon will fall on December 3, 2017.

View Dave’s photo big as the moon and see more in his moon & moon shots slideshow.

More about December’s full moon in Christmas Moon, Snow Moon, Cold Moon, Oak Moon, December Moon on Michigan in Pictures!

It’s a long night for December’s full moon

Posted on by farlane

aDSC_0287

aDSC_0287, photo by Craig

The moon will be full at 7:27 am tomorrow, which basically means tonight. The Old Farmer’s Almanac has this to say about the December Full Moon, known also as the Cold Moon:

During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Nights Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time.

The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

Also, I found a moon phase calendar for December 2014 (and beyond) that’s a really cool way to visualize the month’s moon!!

View Craig’s photo from back in 2009 on the Grand Haven south pier background big and see more in his Pier slideshow.

There’s many moons in the Michigan in Pictures archives!

October’s Full Moon: a super Hunter’s Blood Moon in eclipse

Posted on by farlane

sandhill moon

sandhill moon, photo by Frank Kaelin

EarthSky reports that for the full moon on October 8th, there’s a whole lot going on!

In skylore, the Northern Hemisphere’s Hunter’s Moon on October 7-8 will be called a Blood Moon. Plus the October 7-8 total lunar eclipse – the second of four total lunar eclipses in the ongoing lunar tetrad – has been widely called a Blood Moon. Voila. Double Blood Moon.

Hunter’s Moon the name for the full moon after the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon nearest the September 23 autumnal equinox. This year, the Harvest Moon came on September 9. That’s why tonight’s moon bears the name Hunter’s Moon.

…In 2014 and 2015, a new usage of the term Blood Moon sprang up. Surely you heard about it at the total lunar eclipse in April 2014. It’s the name being used for the four eclipses of the ongoing lunar tetrad – four total lunar eclipses in a row, each separated from the other by six lunar months. (more on this on Michigan in Pictures)

The partial umbral eclipse begins at 5:15 AM EDT on October 8, with the total eclipse starting at 6:25 AM, peaking at 6:55 and ending at 7:24.  On top of all that is the question as to whether or not October 8th’s moon is a supermoon:

At least two commentators – Richard Nolle and Fred Espenak – disagree on whether the October 8, 2014 full moon should be called a supermoon. Is it? You’re likely to see all sorts of conflicting information in October, 2014. If you define a supermoon based on the year’s closest perigee and farthest apogee, then the October 8 moon is not a supermoon. If you define a supermoon based on the perigee and apogee for a given monthly orbit, then it is a supermoon. And not just any supermoon, but a super Hunter’s Blood Moon in eclipse!

I guess with Frank’s photo from October 2013, we could add “Sandhill Moon” to the list! He writes that he took this at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary where counts were as high as eight thousand sandhill cranes a day during last fall’s migration! View his photo bigger and see more in his Landscape slideshow.

Lots more full moon magic on Michigan in Pictures!

 

The Strawberry Moon is full in June

Posted on by farlane

Strawberry Moon by kevins stuff

The Clark Kent Moon of June, photo by Kevin

June’s full moon takes place this Friday, the 13th. That convergence last happened in 2000, and you superstitious folks can breathe easy as it won’t happen again until 2049.

Regarding the June moon’s delicious name, the Farmer’s Almanac says:

The month of June’s full Moon’s name is the Full Strawberry Moon. June’s Full Strawberry Moon got its name because the Algonquin tribes knew it as a signal to gather ripening fruit.

It was often known as the Full Rose Moon in Europe (where strawberries aren’t native).

I checked and the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market is reporting they have strawberries, so I assume the rest of the state will soon follow suit.

View Kevin’s photo bigger and view lots more in his The Moon slideshow.