Rediscovering the Full Moon in May

Advance publicity of a 'Supermoon," really a nominal Full Moon near perigee, brought hundreds of thousands out from their electronic interiors where they joined a host of regular Moon watchers and photographers capturing the sight throughout the world, May 5 (May 6 UT). Among the few examples published online by BBC World is this shot by Ric Letson in New York.

A 'Super' Full Moon? (Sure, why not?)

The Full Moon, May's "Flower Moon" of lore, occurs at 03:38 UT, Sunday Morning, May 6, or roughly 11:38 pm in the U.S. Eastern time zone, in the waning minutes of May 5. This will be the closest Full Moon of 2012, occurring near a distance shy of 354,000 kilometers. We're ambivalent about references to this being a "Super Moon," which it really isn't. Full Moon's are not even the best time to observe the Moon's anatomy. On the other hand anything that compels humans to step out and really "see" our under-appreciated natural satellite, beyond artificial lights, smart phones and televisions can't really be a bad thing. 

Alan MacRobert
Sky & Telescope

"The superstitious among us should beware of extra-big werewolves this weekend," warns Time magazine. For some reason, the world's news media are all aflutter over Saturday night's full Moon.

May is the month this year when full Moon occurs closest to perigee, the point where the Moon is closest to Earth in its monthly orbit. But the Moon will be only 8% closer and larger than average. That's not enough to notice unless you're an awfully careful moon-watcher. Or use measuring tools.

And, this full Moon will shine only 0.16 magnitude brighter than average. That's only slightly more of a brightness difference than a skilled variable-star observer can just detect.

Read the article HERE.

Soichi's "Silver" Full Moon" as seen from ISS

Tweaked to pull some detail (and color) out of the brilliant original is February 28th's full moon, photographed by ISS Expedition Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi. The "seeing" doesn't get more stable.

Kentucky Moonshine: America's Moonbow

Last May, we noted the world-famous Moonbow phenomena of Victoria Falls. As it turns out, Corbin, Kentucky, specifically Cumberland Falls, claims to be unique in the United States in presenting similar Moonbows, known for their ghostly long-exposure photographic effects.

Bob Downing of the Akron Beacon Journal reports, "Moonbows are very real and a very big attraction in south-central Kentucky.

"That is the term given to the unusual lunar rainbows that appear at night in the mist at the bottom of Cumberland Falls near and on full-moon nights.

"Moonbows are formed when moonlight is refracted like a prism in the mist of the falls.

"Such ghostly whitish moonbows are an elusive tourist attraction. I know people who have made trips to Cumberland Falls in search of moonbows but were thwarted by gray skies and rain.

"Moonbows may sound strange, but they do occur regularly at only two places: at Kentucky's Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, and at Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River in Africa.

"Moonbows were reportedly special to the Shawnees and Cherokees, and they recognized Cumberland Falls as a sacred place.

"If you want to attempt to see Kentucky's moonbows, the upcoming full moons in 2009 are July 7, Aug. 5, Sept. 4, Oct. 4, Nov. 2, Dec. 2 and Dec. 31.

"Moonbows are possible on clear evenings with full moons. They may also appear, if conditions are right, on the two nights before the full moon and the two nights after the full moon. That creates a five-day window for every full moon, weather permitting."

Read the Full Story HERE.

April Twilight on Amundsen-Scott

The 10-meter South Pole Telescope with the faintest remaining glow of the sun that had set several weeks earlier. The telescope is located at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is one of three U.S. research stations on the Antarctic continent. All of the stations are operated by the National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP). Further information about USAP is available Here. To learn more about the South Pole Telescope, visit the facility's Web site. (Date of Image: April 2008) Credit: Keith Vanderlinde, National Science Foundation.

Everyone and their dog, with a website, is reporting the large mottled disk rising in the east Saturday evening will be the largest full moon of 2009, another perigee Full Moon, some fourteen percent larger than average because it is occurring almost simultaneous to our Moon's orbital perigee, or 50,000 miles closer than its mean distance. A look out the window and at calsky.com, etc., all rightly indicate a cloud shrouded apparition of the Near Side locally, so you might suppose I'll be missing out.

Not a chance. I've enjoyed haunting blue Moon-lit skies the past two nights, watching the Sunrise over the Marius Hills to the best libration-driven angles of deep south Malapert long enough to wear out sixteen AA batteries powering one telescope's drive. Those of you with a favorable view of tonight's Full Moon, which rises here in about two hours and will reach absolute Full over North America in 0.29 days (and will be up far longer than the Sun will be here in the Northern Hemisphere, more than 14 hours) congratulations.

But it is the times when the Near Side's features are in relief that their secrets are bestowed, and the next few evenings after tonight's spectacle promise to be clear once again, and you can bet I'll be tracing out the shadowed relief as the sun sets once again, begining with Crisium and the eastern limb.

I'm going to need more batteries.

In the meantime, rather than show a picture of a familiar Full Moon, courtesy of the National Science Foundation, above is a picture of the 10-Meter South Pole Telescope at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica - as far South as anyone on Earth can be, last April and "the faintest remaining glow of the sun that had set several weeks earlier."

Image Credit: Keith Vanderlinde, National Science Foundation - Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (803 KB)