-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: Tomorrow Night's Moon - Full, at Perigee, and 'Blue'!
Date:   Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:32:06 -0500
From:   Paige Andrew <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
<[log in to unmask]>
References:     <[log in to unmask]>



We had a very cold, and very clear winter night
here last night with a huge, nearly-full moon. I
was up earlier than normal (kind parent that I
am, drove my youngest to a breakfast meeting
across town at 6:45 a.m.) and as I got out of my
car to go in the house caught a "moonset" that
was awesome. Tomorrow's blue moon should be spectacular!

Paige

At 09:00 AM 1/29/2010, you wrote:
>Nothing like some blue moon news. He's talking about ice cream, right?
>
>;-)
>
>Angie
>
>forwarded by the way ...
>
>-------- Original Message --------
>Subject:         Tomorrow Night's Moon - Full, at Perigee, and 'Blue'!
>Date:   Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:33:04 +1100
>From:   Greg and Joanna Eccleston <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To:       [log in to unmask]
>To:
>
>For those who are interested in things
>astronomical, tomorrow night's full moon will be of special interest!
>
>Full moons occur in mean periods of 29.53059
>days, consequently there can never be more than
>one full moon in the month of February.  The
>second full moon in any other month is an
>unusual occurrence, and is nowadays described as
>a 'blue moon'; Perry Vlahos in today's /Age/
>explains the origin of this expression.  This
>year, there will be two full moons (and hence
>'blue moons') in both January and March!
>
>In its elliptical path around the Earth, the
>Moon comes closest at perigee.  The Moon returns
>to perigee in mean periods of 27.55455 days.
>Amazingly, 14 returns to full moon almost
>exactly equal 15 returns to perigee:  14 ×
>29.53059 = 413.428 days; 15 × 27.55455 = 413.318 days.
>
>Using Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time
>(EDST), the relevant moon events for early 2010 are as follows:
>
>*January 2010:*
>Full Moon 0614 hours 1/1/10
>Full Moon ('blue moon') 1718 hours 30/1/10
>Perigee 2004 hours 30/1/10 - distance = 356592 km.
>(For Melbourne viewers, the Moon will rise at
>about 2029 hours on 30/1/10).  At moonrise, the
>Moon will appear larger than normal, due to the
>usual illusion when it appears close to the
>horizon, but also because it is closer than normal to Earth, being at perigee.
>
>*March 2010:*
>Full Moon 0338 hours 1/3/10
>Full Moon ('blue moon') 1326 hours 30/3/10.
>
>Greg Eccleston
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