What is Digg?48 Comments
- Jazzzzz, on 01/09/2009, -1/+13We are having snow now, if the skies clear tonight we should have some pretty cool moon shadows going on.
- kyle212, on 01/09/2009, -3/+14Wow and too say were only 9 days in
- chadsmith729, on 01/09/2009, -1/+9I'll be sure to get outside, and hope that it's not cloudy. However it's Pennsylvania, so it will be cloudy or snowing.
- baysidecomedy, on 01/10/2009, -1/+7that moon is awfly close to the horizon, i hope Link is almost done getting all the masks...
- rgaino, on 01/09/2009, -1/+7Awesome. Prepare camera!
- s4g4n, on 01/10/2009, -0/+4Its going right for us!
- angel.wardriver, on 01/10/2009, -1/+5Thanks for the heads up...I'll be looking for it if the weather permits.
- desken, on 01/09/2009, -1/+5Nice, we'll be watching the skies.
- phatvolvo, on 01/10/2009, -0/+3leaping and hopping on a moooon shadow
- JBranded, on 01/09/2009, -1/+4I love when the moon gets like this
especially when you can see it during the day when you get off work.
later on you see it glowing at night, its bloody amazing. - MCMLXXXII, on 01/10/2009, -0/+3That's no moon!
- TehMoos, on 01/10/2009, -0/+3I knew the Skull Kid was up to something again!
- redxii, on 01/10/2009, -2/+4Can't wait until 2620, when they rename it to Urectum to end those silly jokes.
- ASSASSYN360, on 01/11/2009, -0/+2It looks the same as always from arkansas.
- bigbangbuddha, on 01/10/2009, -0/+2FTA " For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees"
Bizarre, I was always told that this was because of the atmosphere magnifying it. But I did some searching and it looks like its because its a mental illusion, not an optical one. Good article on the "Moon Illusion" here:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question491.htm - encumbent, on 01/11/2009, -0/+2Have to point out - it took me far too long to read your half sentence..
/sundy mornin nazi :) - jstem1994, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1Rain, ice, snow for Cincinnati area. Probably miss it...
- counterplex, on 01/11/2009, -0/+1I'm being followed by a moon shadow
moon shadow-moon shadow
leaping and hopping on a moon shadow
moon shadow-moon shadow - linksus, on 01/10/2009, -2/+3.. And *****
- damntourists, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1me three.
- tallarida, on 01/11/2009, -0/+1i see cool moon shadows.
- autobulb, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1A few days ago the Quarantid meteor shower peaked as well. A fun way to start the year 2009.
- Artic89, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1Great to see articles like this. I'll keep an eye out for sure:)
- sweetgirls, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1I tried last month to take a picture of the moon but it is not that too clear...Well, I hope I have something more hightech gadget so that I can have a good picture of it.
- Kr4t05, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1Amen, Pittsburgh has about 3 or 4 inches of snow, and the sky is cloudy with more. If the moon is visible, though, it will be a very romantic night for more than one 'Burgher. (Including yours truly. :P )
- rsbryswrrl, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1Awesome - first full moon of the new year!
- Rocketbird, on 01/11/2009, -0/+1Shut. the hell. up.
blocked and reported. - linksus, on 01/10/2009, -2/+3( From a place with real scientists )
The Moon does not orbit Earth in a perfect circle. Instead, it follows an elliptical path that brings it 50,000 kilometres closer to our planet on one side of its orbit (called perigee) than the other (apogee).
On Saturday, 10 January, the Moon will reach perigee, coming within 357,500 kilometres of Earth. The next day, it will enter its full phase, when its disc appears completely illuminated by the Sun.
This will make it about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than typical full Moons (see the difference in the full Moon's size in 2004). - adkenc, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1for those getting the cameras ready: the illusion is not usually apparent with typical camera lenses. (you get a pic of the moon, but it doesn't have that same hugeness feel to it). a scope might help though...
personally i'd be more excited if Jupiter and Venus were grouped with the moon again. gotta wait a few years for that though.
dugg for reminding me to bust out the scope. - Medicamusic, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1Im in Southern California and its 68 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Im also an *****.
- ZeroCubed, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1Damn, it's supposed to stay cloudy here till the end of January!!!
- adiggityam, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1It already happened about a day ago...
- chipe65, on 01/10/2009, -0/+0I remember the moon in December. I was filming a wedding and then bam, there she was. perfect night for a full moon.
- zooto68, on 01/10/2009, -1/+1A lot of people are going to be very disappointed when they go outside and realise it looks no different than it does at any other time of the year. Oh I just love urban myths.
- AzureBen, on 01/10/2009, -0/+0preparing the camera now... nice news
- ZeroCubed, on 01/10/2009, -1/+1It's a giant space station!
- leatherback, on 01/10/2009, -1/+1Some guy upstream referred to this as an urban myth...wrong.
The moon doesn't always look the same because its path is elliptical. When it is closest to the earth...as it is today it appears larger(perigee).
It is always beautiful regardless....it will just be more so tonight. Especially for those with a clear sky and no lights. Enjoy! - kimoftheworld, on 01/10/2009, -1/+1This one calls for Twilight 2 - New Moon :D
- MediaWeasel, on 01/10/2009, -2/+2Cool! I shall be out with my tripod although my moon pictures usually turn out to be rubbish cos I don't have a suitable lens. hehe
- numel, on 01/10/2009, -0/+0excuse me for a second... *howls*
you saw that, oh *****. - Leviathan433, on 01/10/2009, -2/+1Ummm...most of that is FTA.
- violationz, on 01/10/2009, -1/+0That pic is wicked... wish it was better quality though.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/big ... - thumperings, on 01/10/2009, -2/+1Hmm I guess me and Nasa are wrong as well huh? (link below)
I'm a photographer, and I happen to know it's the truth. That photograph of the huge moon from the article was photo shopped to appear huge, or was taken with a massive zoom from very very far away... Any photo of the moon at any point on the horizon or high in the sky is exactly the same size. If you haven't done this yourself do it yourself. The ellipse is negligible at best. It's unnoticeable. Believe me I have many nights "thought" the moon appeared to be larger than it appears on other nights or other points on the horizon. It's called the moon illusion. here is yet more articles for you.
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/ ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion
http://www.universetoday.com/2007/06/28/explaining ...
I'm sorry the truth is annoying for you . idiots. - BA88, on 01/10/2009, -3/+2Uranus
- SEOtonie, on 01/10/2009, -3/+2I love the moon and yes i am also a crazy person.
- thumperings, on 01/10/2009, -5/+3that's great and all, but ...
The moon isn't larger or smaller - it stays the same size. However, it does appear to be larger or smaller at times.
Often people think the moon appearing larger on the horizon is due to atmospheric lensing. This is not the case.
It is an optical illusion. The moon appears larger when you can see it in relation to objects close to the ground. When you see the moon against a tree or a mountain in the distance, it looks much larger because it appears so much larger than the tree or mountain.
However, if you were to take out a ruler and measure how wide the moon's image was on the horizon, and measured it again when overhead, you would find that the moon is actually the same size, regardless of where it currently sits in the sky.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_moon_larger_when_ ... - warrenterr, on 01/10/2009, -4/+1I knew the moon had to actually get closer in certain occasions to look that big. Some science textbooks and shows claimed that it was only an illusion due to the fact that it was closer to the horizon. Now i know it's both.
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