Michigan helped fly Artemis to the Moon

Posted on by farlane

Fly Me to the Moon by Morgan Andrew Somers

Given the state of the world these days, it’s probably not surprising that a lot of people are turning their eyes to the future and to outer space. Bridge Michigan’s Paula Gardner shares that this includes the State of Michigan that is opening a space innovation hub to seek a portion of what is projected to be a nearly $2 trillion sector:

Blades and nozzles in the four engines of the Artemis II rocket came from Moeller Aerospace in Harbor Springs, a state supplier to NASA contractors. Elmet Technologies in Lewiston Coldwater tooled more equipment. And NASA used solar particle forecasts from the University of Michigan.

All told, at least 78 Michigan-based entities contributed to the mission, said Mark Ignash, director of strategic initiatives at Michigan’s Office of Defense and Aerospace Innovation.

…The Michigan Economic Development Corp. is seeking proposals to establish the state’s first Space Innovation Hub. With up to $1.2 million budgeted for the first year, the hub is an early step towards connecting and growing the space-centered business in the state. 

Editor’s Note/Unpaid Promotion: I left the links in the text from Bridge so you can get an idea of the incredible depth they bring to their reporting. At a time when many news outlets are reducing local coverage or shutting their doors, it’s great to have companies like this bringing hard hitting & well researched journalism to the issues that impact the future of all Michiganders. For sure follow them at bridgemi.com or on any social media.

I shared this stunning photo of a plane flying across the April 8, 2024 eclipse taken in Flint by Morgan Andrew Somers two years ago. It was the third most popular photo of 2024, and for my money far and away the best pic of the eclipse taken from Michigan that I’ve seen & also kind of perfect for this post. Head over to the MASphoto Facebook for more including the answer to “is this photo fake” (no, it is not). View & purchase prints at morganandrewsomers.com!

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Dancing Among (and above) the Clouds

Posted on by farlane
Dancing Among the Clouds by Eric Hackney

Dancing Among the Clouds by Eric Hackney

If you ever wonder how the sausage is made on Michigan in Pictures, it often goes a lot like this morning. I was about to repost Eric’s gorgeous photo of the Portage Lift Bridge from April 8, 2017 (seen below) when I stumbled on images from NASA’s Artemis II mission. Thoughts of astronauts looking down on us made me want to look up. That sent me to the Absolute Michigan photo group on Flickr to find a recent moon photo, and who should have a recent & perfect photo but Eric Hackney!!

For sure follow Eric on Flickr or Facebook for his latest and view & purchase his work on his website.

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NASA wants a Moon base

Posted on by farlane
Airplane passing the moon by Saad M.N.B.

Airplane passing the moon by Saad M.N.B.

Our friends at EarthSky share details on news that NASA is prioritizing the development of a moon base within 5 years:

The announcements build on recent updates to the Artemis program. Artemis 2 will carry a human crew around the moon and back. It might launch as soon as early April. The new initiatives include standardizing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket configuration and to add an additional mission in 2027. Plus it plans on undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter.

Additionally, Artemis 3 – scheduled for 2027 – will focus on testing integrated systems and operational capabilities in Earth orbit. That will be in advance of the Artemis 4 lunar landing. Looking beyond Artemis 5, NASA will begin to incorporate more commercially procured and reusable hardware to undertake frequent and affordable crewed missions to the lunar surface. Plus, NASA will initially target landings every six months, with the potential to increase cadence as capabilities mature.

To achieve a lasting human presence on the moon, NASA also announced a phased approach to building a lunar base. As part of this strategy, the agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations. Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments to support these objectives.

The photographer shared this back in 2018. Head over to their Flickr for more great shots!

EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd has an interview with space journalist Eric Berger of Ars Technica. Berger explains the peak-risk moments of the upcoming 10-day Artemis  2 mission & gives an insider’s look at the changes announced on February 27 for the Artemis program.

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See the March 3rd Blood Moon Eclipse in Michigan

Posted on by farlane
Blood Moon over Grand Haven by Randy Riksen Photography

Blood Moon over Grand Haven by Randy Riksen Photography

The Detroit Free Press shares that Michigan’s chances of viewing the “Blood Moon” eclipse early tomorrow morning will depend on the weather:

The “blood moon” eclipse takes place during March’s full moon, which will occur in the early morning of Tuesday, March 3. The full moon’s peak and eclipse’s totality to coincide at 6:38 a.m., according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Clear skies permitting, the Worm Moon could be visible for part of the eclipse in Michigan, with the moon to set for local viewers during totality.

Our friends over at EarthSky explain that total eclipses can turn the moon a deep shade of red, and have lots more detail about viewing. They explain why this eclipse called a Blood Moon eclipse and that the shade of red on the moon will depend mostly on what’s happening in Earth’s atmosphere at the moment of the eclipse.

Randy took this photo of the October 2014 total lunar eclipse over the Grand Haven South Pierhead Lighthouse and says that keeping the camera still enough in the howling wind was a chore in itself!! View & purchase his work including some killer fishing photos on his website.

Lots more solar & lunar eclipse photos on Michigan in Pictures!

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That Super Beaver Moon is actually a Super Hunter’s Moon

Posted on by farlane
Lake Huron Moonshine by kare hav

Lake Huron Moonshine by kare hav

I got a lot of enjoyment from walking around the house yesterday saying “Super Beaver Moon” so it is with sadness & regret I share that EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd explains that if a full moon of November falls after November 7, it’s the Beaver Moon but if it’s before the 7th, it’s the Hunter’s Moon. Deborah writes:

Nature is particularly cooperative around the time of the autumnal equinox to make the fall full moonrises special. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. But when a full moon happens close to the autumnal equinox – either a Harvest or a Hunter’s Moon – the moon (at mid-northern latitudes) rises about 30 minutes later daily for several days before and after the full moon … The result is that there’s a short-than-usual lag time between successive moonrises around the Hunter’s Moon adding to the brightness of evening twilight.

The moon has for sure been looking huge when it’s risen the last couple of nights! To add to the fun, EarthSky shares that the South Taurid & North Taurid meteor showers are both happening right now! While they aren’t a very active shower with just 5-10 meteors per hour, they can produce really intense fireballs like this one from Monday night over Glen Lake in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

This moon is neither Hunter nor Beaver: it’s the August 2020 Sturgeon Moon as seen over Lake Huron. See more in kare hav’s Point Lookout / Au Gres gallery on Flickr including the first pic I ever shared from this awesome photographer on Night and Light.

Night by kare hav

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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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Leonid Meteors fight back against Big Moon

Posted on by farlane
Lake Michigan … anticipation by Ken Scott

Lake Michigan … anticipation by Ken Scott

This story I shared on Leelanau.com about how the Leonid meteors are being recorded hitting the surface of the moon gave me a chuckle when I realized they were doing it becauser the moon is shining on their big show! 😅

EarthSky shares that since the radiant – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – for the Geminid Meteor Shower rises in mid-evening, you can watch for these meteors all night long in the days before & after the evenings of December 13-14 as we pass through the Geminid swarm. They say that the radiant is highest at 2am. Although you won’t see the 20 meteors per hour with the nearly full Cold Moon hanging in the sky, they are particularly bright & you will see some if you give it 15 minutes or so!

Speaking of the meteors & the moon, EarthSky & other outlets have shared video of meteor impacts on the lunar surface from Japanese astronomer Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum! Check it out below along with tips on how to get the best view of this annual meteor shower!

Ken took this back in April of 2015 when he was hoping to catch a lunar eclipse but sadly…

this morning was to be a
Total eclipse of the moon …
it started out fantastic and
then clouds rolled in . . .

Follow Ken Scott Photography on Flickr & Facebook for his latest! Also if you are wondering about the ice balls, Leelanau.com has the info on that too with another pic from Ken & video by Paul May!

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Moonset under Aurora

Posted on by farlane
Moon set under Aurora by Thomas Mann

Moon set under Aurora by TP Mann

Thomas shares, “The northern lights and the moon filled the sky above Ellsworth Lake. It was a gorgeous night to be out along the Breezeway.” The Breezeway is his passion which is totally understandable if you take a look:

“The Breezeway” is a rural ride along C-48 from Atwood (U.S. 31) through Ellsworth & East Jordan, and ending in Boyne Falls (U.S. 131) – boasts scenic overlooks, great motorcycle & bicycle rides, recreational amenities galore, working farms & orchards, artist galleries & studios, resale shops, lodging facilities (cottages, campgrounds, B&Bs, motels, and a resort), retail and service businesses with superb customer service, and an epicurean’s selection of dining choices along the route.

Thomas took this photo on October 10th. Head over to his Flickr for his latest photos from this beautiful little corner of Michigan & here’s a daytime photo of the fall color on Ellsworth Lake from yesterday!

Autumn Morning on the Breezeway by Thomas Mann

Autumn Morning on the Breezeway by Thomas Mann

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Earth to get an extra moon on Sunday!

Posted on by farlane

He leads me beside the still waters… by Kathy

CNN shares that the Earth will (briefly) be getting a “mini-moon” on Sunday:

The newly discovered asteroid, named 2024 PT5, will temporarily be captured by Earth’s gravity and orbit our world from September 29 to November 25, according to astronomers. Then, the space rock will return to a heliocentric orbit, which is an orbit around the sun.

…The space rock could be anywhere between 16 and 138 feet (5 and 42 meters) in diameter, potentially larger than the asteroid that entered Earth’s atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013 … But as a mini-moon, Asteroid 2024 PT5 isn’t in any danger of colliding with Earth now or over the next few decades, de la Fuente Marcos said. The space rock will orbit about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers) away, or about 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Kathie shares that Thumb Lake in Charlevoix County was foggy and lovely when she took this back in October of 2009. See more in her Top 40 gallery on Flickr. Also I get that we’re all worked up about AI, but please look at the 2009 date of the photo ;)

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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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