Showing posts with label The moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The moon. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2016

The Hunter’s Supermoon, night 1


[Photo by Liza Béar]

Let's start by cutting-n-pasting this from National Geographic:

Sky-watchers are gearing up for a super-sized moon that will grace evening skies this Sunday, October 16. The so-called hunter’s supermoon kicks off a lunar triple play happening over the next three months.

This month’s full moon is known in North America as the hunter’s moon. That’s because in other months, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, while the October moon rises just 30 minutes later. That offers more light overall during a 24-hour day, which came in handy for traditional hunters. [Ed note: Does this make it paleo?]

This month, the moon officially reaches its full phase at 12:23 a.m. ET (4:23 UT) on October 16, which means that the lunar disk will appear nearly equally full on the nights of both October 15 and 16.

Last night, local astronomy buff Felton Davis has his rig up on Second Avenue and East Houston for some supermoon viewing (top photo) ... Unfortunately, not everyone was buying it...


And here's a view after midnight and early this morning via Bobby Williams...





And why does the moon have a reddish tint in the first photo from Bobby? It's sunburnt, of course.

Via EarthSky:

"The orange colour of a moon near the horizon is a true physical effect. It stems from the fact that - when you look toward the horizon - you are looking through a greater thickness of Earth’s atmosphere than when you gaze up and overhead.

The atmosphere scatters blue light - that’s why the sky looks blue. The greater thickness of atmosphere in the direction of a horizon scatters blue light most effectively, but it lets red light pass through to your eyes. So a full moon near the horizon — any full moon near the horizon — takes on a yellow or orange or reddish hue."

Anyway, keep an eye up tonight... and I believe Felton will be back on Second Avenue and East Houston for a better view...

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Saturday, May 21, 2016

How about that moon last night


...Early evening from East Sixth Street...


[EVG]

...and later from a telescope...


[Grant Shaffer]

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Sunday, September 27, 2015

[Updated] Where you can (hopefully) view the super blood moon tonight

Let's just cut-and-paste this explanation from The New York Times:

A rare astronomical phenomenon Sunday night will produce a moon that will appear slightly bigger than usual and have a reddish hue, an event known as a super blood moon.

It’s a combination of curiosities that hasn’t happened since 1982... A so-called supermoon, which occurs when the moon is closest to earth in its orbit, will coincide with a lunar eclipse, leaving the moon in Earth’s shadow. Individually, the two phenomena are not uncommon, but they do not align often.

For these kinds of events, we usually look to local astronomy buff Felton Davis of Maryhouse, who sets up his telescope in strategic points in the neighborhood. However, he is out of town at the moment... in his absence, EV resident Danielle Baskin along with her friend Maya Eilam and Joanne Kennedy from the Maryhouse are operating the telescope. Felton has trained them how to set up the gear ... so if the weather cooperates, then East Village residents can still view the spectacle.

Danielle and company will be by the Second Avenue F station (Second Avenue and East Houston) from 7 p.m. onward. The eclipse should reach totality at around 10:45 p.m.

Keep in mind that this moon won't happen again until 2033, the same time when work is expected to be complete at the Astor Place Reconstruction Project

Image via the U.S. Naval Observatory

Updated 9-28

A good number of people turned out that evening to take in the super blood moon here on Second Avenue between East First Street and Houston…


[Photo via Danielle Baskin]

Friday, August 21, 2015

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Monday, April 6, 2015

Jupiter and moons tonight



Local astronomy buff Felton Davis passed along the following...

If it's clear I will set up on the corner of East 3rd Street and 2nd Avenue at 8 pm to show Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, presently high in the constellation Cancer.

Jupiter was in Leo last fall, has been shifting retrograde (clockwise) toward Cancer all winter, and in a few weeks will turn and move back (counter-clockwise) toward Leo. This is due to the relative positions of Earth as an inner planet versus Jupiter as an outer planet.

One of Jupiter's largest moons, Europa, will disappear behind the planet at 8:30 pm, and re-emerge from the other side, at around 11:30. Although Ganymede and Callisto are both larger than our moon, Europa and Io are a little smaller.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Friday, March 6, 2015

A Village moon view



The moon seemingly setting just beyond Village View this morning around 6:20 ... photo by Bobby Williams

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

It's the Full Snow Moon



EVG regular Grant Shaffer took this tonight in Tompkins Square Park...

Hey, where's Jupiter???

Some background via Universe Today:

February’s full moon is aptly named the Full Snow Moon as snowfall can be heavy this month.

And!

The Full Moon celebrates Jupiter’s coming opposition by accompanying the bright planet in a beautiful conjunction tonight.



And here is the moon from 2:03 a.m. overnight via Bobby Williams and his EV Observatory...

Friday, January 23, 2015

The planets are lining up tonight for your viewing pleasure (hopefully)



Local astronomy buff Felton Davis passed along the following …

Furnerius, Petavius, Vendelinus, and Langrenus were so jagged last night on the rim of the 2nd day old crescent moon that they looked like scabs about to be broken off. Tonight there will be a fascinating arrangement as Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Mars and the Moon all line up in the southwest at sunset.

I will set up on the corner of 2nd Avenue and East 3rd Street as usual, at about 5 p.m., but we don't have a really clear perspective toward the southwest. People may want to check out other locations.



Saturday, January 10, 2015

Moonlighting



EVG reader Gregory Patrick shares this photo looking downtown from last night...

Saturday, December 27, 2014

And now, the waxing crescent moon



Local astronomy buff Felton Davis had his gear set up earlier on Second Avenue and East Third Street ... here's a shot of the waxing crescent moon via Brian Van ...

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Capturing the lunar eclipse before it 'sank into the haze'



East Village resident and astronomy buff Felton Davis set the alarm early to capture the lunar eclipse.

He shared the following:

"Magnificent pre-dawn spectacle at Battery Park, with enormous cloud banks passing over the full moon, but occasionally parting to show the progress of the eclipse. Had to hold my hands over the tripod to keep the camera from shaking in the cold wind coming down the Hudson. The first shadow appeared at about 4:45 a.m., and the moon darkened steadily until it was no more than a sliver, and sank into the haze at 6:15 a.m."









And what about the blood moon the media is taking about today?

"There was no reddish or turquoise moon over the Hudson, just silver and grey, and most of the time behind the clouds."

Our next shot at a blood moon is April 4, 2015.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Last night's waxing moon



Here's a report from local astronomy buff Felton Davis:

It rained all day Saturday, and that must have washed a lot of soot out of the atmosphere, because the waxing moon came up unusually sharp and clear. Gassendi Crater on the edge of the Mare Humorum was spectacular as the shadow of the sun receded across its sharp edges and central blip. And down and to the left of Tycho was another stretch of jagged craters that will all look smooth on Tuesday night when the moon is full.



The eclipse of the moon will take place just before dawn on Wednesday, Oct. 8, as the earth passes directly between the rising sun and setting moon.

We've had a whole lot of partly-cloudy-chance-of-showers in the last week, so don't get your hopes up for anything different on Wednesday. If it is clear, all the way down to the horizon, I plan to get on the #5 Train to Bowling Green at 4:30 am, and walk over to Battery Park. The moon will set long before the eclipse is over.

It's too cold and too far away to bring the telescope, but anyone with a camera and a tripod should be able to get some amazing photos. Will the darkened moon set over the Statue of Liberty, over Ellis Island, or north of Ellis Island? I have no idea!