Saturday, January 10, 2009

Another Moon, another place


Tonight I'm watching the "largest moon of 2009", which might not mean much, considering it's only January 10th, but Nasa says it's a Perigee moon, and I really like the sound of it. This from the Nasa website, where you can read all about it:

Johannes Kepler explained the phenomenon 400 years ago. The Moon's orbit around Earth is not a circle; it is an ellipse, with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other. Astronomers call the point of closest approach "perigee," and that is where the Moon will be this weekend.

Perigee full Moons come along once or twice a year. 2008 ended with one and now 2009 is beginning with another. It's the best kind of déjà vu for people who love the magic of a moonlit landscape.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/08jan_bigmoon2009.htm

When I'm up north, much of the time any sky phenomenon is hidden by the ever-present cloud cover, but here at the ocean we've been watching it for over an hour now.

They say it should look largest nearer the horizon, and maybe it did. (See above) But I loved this view, when it was peeking through the clouds.

Did anyone else see it? I'm curious to know whether it looked different in other parts of the country. (Just talked to my daughter in Southeastern Michigan. They got eight inches of snow today, so I'm guessing they weren't watching a full moon!)

5 comments:

  1. the moon here in northern NY is hidden behind a slightly overcast sky. I guess we're getting some cloud cover from the storm that is moving through the mid-atlantic area and up as far as Albany, NY area. So we aren't getting the full effect. Darn!

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  2. Your photos were so beautiful! I need to look at the sky, moon and stars more!

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  3. Hi guys, yes, it looked very nice. But Shelly, we don't see the sky, moon and stars much in winter in Michigan. Our quest for beauty has to be elsewhere! And I'm loving your pictures--the farm in Gaylord is terrific. Love the little nuthatch, too. Aren't they sweet?
    Mona

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  4. I didn't see the moon though it's awesome! Our U.P. winter skies and shorelines are beautiful but I can feel the cold! Which is kind of funny since I spoke to my daughter-in-law yesterday—who lives in the U.P. and I live now in the lower peninsula—and she said it was warmer there than our minus 15 yesterday morning. So there you go!

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  5. Hi Coralie. Welcome! I'm enjoying your blogs. I took at peek at the book titles behind your pen holder, and I've read most of the same books! We Yoopers have to stick together. . .
    Mona

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