Happy Friday, y’all!
Oh, it’s a beautiful morning here on Long Mountain. I took a walk, and admired the sycamore tree by the creek. There’s one who’s a real scene stealer. White and gray flecked branches contrasted the russet leaves. Plato would be impressed with the near-perfection of this tree. If Autumn had a spokes-tree, Mr. Sycamore would be a leading candidate.
Step right up, folks! Get your pumpkin spice! Hay rides at 6 pm!
High above in the morning sky, cloud-white and unassuming, the waning Hunter’s Moon gazed down as I walked in the dewy fields. I looked back. “Good morning, Moon!”
It’s Friday. It’s time to log another astronomical observation. While aimed at my blind and low vision friends, I hope everyone digs these posts. I’ve been noticing more this way, myself.
Good Morning, Moon!
My quest to write quality alt-text description for my blind buddies started with an epic fail. A colleague asked me “so what does the moon look like?”
I paused. Where was the swift dagger of wit? The sterling blade of metaphor? All I had was a description about as sharp as a butter knife.
“Uh…uh…kinda like a moldy ping pong ball.”
WHAT?!
I’ll do better today.
Background - Lunar Phases
The Moon during the day? Sure! This surprises most everyone. Here’s how it works.
The Moon starts out “near” the Sun, along our line of sight, and is invisible, lost in the glare - a “New Moon.” (Occasionally, the plane of the orbits line up, and the Moon will block our view of the Sun in a solar eclipse.)
As it moves in it’s 29 day trip ‘round the world, it gradually emerges into the evening sky as a crescent, a slice of cosmic melon.
The crescent fattens into a half circle - the “half Moon” or “first quarter”, 90 degrees away from the Sun from our perspective.
(Although times vary, for our example, let’s suppose the half Moon rises at noon if the Sun is directly overhead then.)
The Moon continues her trip, waxing towards a Full Moon, turning into a waxing gibbous phase…a fat semicircle. You’ll catch Moonrise in the afternoon.
Finally, werewolves and astrologers rejoice! It’s the Full Moon! Rising at Sunset, directly opposite the Sun.
If things line up right, Earth blocks the sunlight hitting the Moon, resulting in a lunar eclipse. (Some light gets bent by our atmosphere, and the Moon turns reddish.)
After the full phase, the Moon wanes, rising later and later, until eventually, it rises at Sunrise, lost in the glare of the Sun, ready to repeat the cycle all over again.
What About Today?
The Moon is in the waning gibbous phase. It rose at 9:40 pm last night, and sets at 12:16 pm this afternoon. I saw it high in the western sky this morning on my walk.
Ping Pong Redemption
So, what did it look like??
The sky was blue, with a few white clouds drifting by. The Moon was about the same color as the clouds, dotted with darker gray patches. The astronomers of old hoped these were seas, but instead, they’re ancient lava flows, cooled and frozen into stone for billions of years.
If I held my little finger at arm’s length, the Moon was roughly the size of my fingernail. One side of it was round, of course, but the other side of the fat semicircle - the gibbous phase of it - was curved roughly the same as my nail.
Important to note is the shape of the moon doesn’t change, but the lighting does, so it looks like it’s morphing. A view through a telescope shows the unlit portion of the Moon.
Looking for a minute, I could also make out faint impressions of the most obvious crater, Tycho. It looked like a tiny splash of white paint on the rough surface. The impact had scattered rock and debris almost a thousand miles across the face of the Moon!
Binoculars or a telescope reveal a complex world of craters, mountains, flat lava planes, cracks, fissures, strange lunar “domes”, and a beautiful variety of gray and white shading.
A cloud drifted by, and partially veiled the sight in the morning sky.
It reminded me of a favorite thing about the Moon, and something that we can all appreciate. She reminds me of an old friend or guardian angel, smiling down and wishing us well us as we go about our busy days, or keeping watch as we sleep the night away.
Gems from Earth
Today, in “light” of the Moon (pun intended!), our Beethoven symphony review is paused, with a worthy substitution - his Sonata No. 14, the “Moonlight.”
Of all the celestial sights, the Moon seems to inspire the widest variety of emotion. From howling to melancholy, romance to mystery, she has a profound impact on us Earthlings.
Apparently, the name “Moonlight sonata” wasn’t coined until after Beethoven’s death, but few pieces capture the feeling of the Moon so well.
Enjoy Daniel Barenboim’s live performance of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”.
Josh