Full Moon

bigger & fuller

Two evenings ago I went out for a walk just after dark. I knew the full moon would just be rising over the Berkeley Hills. For non-locals, the hills are on the East side of my building. My apartment's view is due West, so I knew just before dawn the orb would be setting on my side of the world. Here are some photographic observations of the event.

bigger again

For locals and others, that is Mt. Tamalpais below the setting celestial body.

Dawn began to break as the Orb of Night slid towards the horizon.

bigger?

The orange of the atmosphere began tinge the view.

Morning pink arrives.

10-9-8-7-

6-5-4-

3-2-1 

see all shots in an expanding slideshow, double click on any shot in my Flickr account.

A True Blue Moon

Sometimes we don't know what we think we know. Case in point, a blue moon. We tend to think that when a calendar month has two full moons, the second one is a blue moon. 

First problem with that colloquial reasoning is that mother nature doesn't operate on a twelve month cycle, neatly broken into 28, 29, 30 or 31 day months. Which is why seasonal changes happen 'around' the twenty-first day of December, June, March and September - the winter and summer solstice and the spring and autumn equinox.

Now back to the blue moon. Historically, a blue moon happens when there are four full moons in a season. And . . . it's not the fourth moon that is the blue one but the third. A true Blue Moon is the third of four in a seasonal quarter of the year. That apparently was the moon that felt 'out of place' rather than the fourth full moon, which would fall within a few days of the end of the season.

Here is when the full moons of this 'year' occur. Times given are PST & PDT:

28 December 2012, 02:21 (winter)
26 January 2013, 20:38 (winter)
25 February 2013, 12:26 (winter)
27 March 2013, 02:27 (spring)
25 April 2013, 12:57 (spring)
24 May 2013, 21:25 (spring)
23 June 2013, 05:32 (summer)
22 July 2013, 11:16 (summer)
20 August 2013, 18:44 (summer)
19 September 2013, 04:12 (summer)
18 October 2013, 04:37 (fall)
17 November 2013, 07:15 (fall)
16 December 2013, 01:28 (fall)

Tomorrow then is the true blue moon for this year. The third full moon of four that happen in the natural summer season. To celebrate here is Nanci Griffith singing Just Once in a Very Blue Moon.

Commentary on Monday, Portrayal on Friday

Morning Glory

I'm going to get up early the next two mornings as the full moon will be setting over Marin less than an hour before sunrise. The actual moment of the full moon happens here around 8 PM Saturday evening, so luna will be plump both mornings. Now if the overcast will hold off, if not then moonset may be into the high marine layer an hour or so earlier.

For readers around the world, the information on the descendent moon in your neighborhood:

The full moon calendar 2013

The next full moon will be:Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 05:38:24 am
Central European Time (CET)

In other time zones:
WELLINGTON = Sunday * 27th Jan 2013 * 05:38:24 pm (NZDT)
SYDNEY = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 03:38:24 pm (AEDT)
TOKYO = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 01:38:24 pm (JST)
BEIJING = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 12:38:24 pm (CST)
DELHI = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 10:08:24 am (IST)
MOSCOW = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 08:38:24 am (MSK)
RIYADH = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 07:38:24 am (AST)
BERLIN = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 05:38:24 am (CET)
LONDON = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 04:38:24 am (GMT)
RIO = Sunday * 27th January 2013 * 02:38:24 am (BRST)
NEW YORK = Saturday * 26th Jan 2013 * 11:38:24 pm (EST)
MEXICO CITY = Saturday * 26th Jan 2013 * 10:38:24 pm (CST)
LOS ANGELES = Saturday * 26th Jan 2013 * 08:38:24 pm (PST)
HONOLULU = Saturday * 26th Jan 2013 * 06:38:24 pm (HAST)

Early Eclipse Warning

The picture above is a shot of the solar eclipse as seen in Argentina last Sunday. Trust me -- you want to see this picture larger, here is the link.

This event segues into my second early warning reminder that on the winter solstice this year (Dec. 21, 2010) there will be a total lunar eclipse, which will be visible in all of North America and partially in Europe and northern Asia. In the U.S. the total eclipse with occur at 4:38 AM PST, 5:38 MST, 6:38 CST, unfortunately the moon sets just minutes before totality on the most eastern sections of the U.S.

The total time of the eclipse will exceed 5.5 hours, so even on the east coast you will get quite a show, the rest of the continental U.S., Canada and Central America will see the whole display. In the central time zone the moon will set still partially eclipsed but you will be going back to bed anyway. And mind you this all takes place on the Winter Solstice, start the party planning now!