Astronomical Oddity

[beau_ranheim1]

Just an FYI. An event that hasn't occurred in 133 years, and won't

for another 100, will take place on Dec. 22. There will be a full

moon on the winter solstice. This may be of note to photographers as

the moon will be about 15% larger and 10% brighter than most other

times.

[john_wall1]

I'd like to add the following info (gleaned elsewhere; these are not my own words):

 

This year the Winter Solstice, December 22 -- the longest night of the year, will be extremely special. This is because the solstice will coincide with a Full Moon. Ah, but not just any Full Moon. The Moon will be within a few hours of its perigee, its closest point to the Earth. This will make the Moon appear to be about 14% bigger than usual. However, it is also only ten days from the Earth's perihelion, its closest point to the Sun. Since the Moon shines with reflected sunlight, then the moon will appear 7% brighter than usual. These events occurring together are extremely rare. This is probably the biggest, brightest moon of the Millenium as well as its last. That makes it a rare night indeed so check with your local astronomy clubs to find out what special events are planned. Whatever you do, get out and look at the sky. You will never see a Moon like this again, even if the world does not end seven days later. December 22 Winter solstice is at 2:44 a.m. EST The moon is at perigee (221,614 miles from Earth), 5:55 a.m. EST Full moon is at 12:31 p.m. EST

[james_lofton]

..and while we are all out there taking pictures, remember back when this happened last...

On December 21st. 1866 the Lakota Sioux took advantage of this combination of occurrences and staged a devastating retaliatory ambush on soldiers in the Wyoming Territory.

 

James

[graham_baker]

So the lesson here is that we should watch out for hostiles on the plains while we're aiming our lenses skyward? I'll be sure and load a second camera with some NHGII just in case I get the opportunity to photograph them.

 

There won't be any snow in Austin that evening, but I plan to find a long white picket fence or some interesting, white buildings that will reflect the anticipated increased moonglow. I wonder what other folks will stay up that night, and what they'll photograph.

[christian deichert]

Sounds like a great opportunity. If the weather is right (knock on wood), I plan to go for a nice, dusky moonrise on one side of Atlanta, then go to bed and wake up in time to try and capture a skyline / moonset shot on the other side of Atlanta at sunrise. The nice part about Atlanta is that the skyline is long enough to fill the frame yet narrow enough to go from one side to the otehr in 10 minutes or so.

<BR><BR>

If I'm lucky, I'll even be able to use the Mamiya C330 F I hope to have by then (knock again) as well as my 35mm gear.

[edwin_hurd]

I had heard about this event...

Does anyone know what the time and location of the moonrise will be that evening. It would be nice if the moon rose at sunset; then you could get some beautiful moonrise shots with the moon still in the alpenglow of the sunset.

[photojim]

Edwin, full moons always rise at sunset and set at sunrise. The moon is exactly opposite the sun in the sky.

 

Jim

[bobatkins]

Though it's unusal, it's really not going to be all that much brighter or larger. 10% brighter is a tiny fraction of an f-stop and 15% bigger is like going from a 100 to a 115mm lens. So don't expect any really spectacular photo ops that you wouldn't get with an average full moon!

 

"Full" moons rise approximately at sunset. As pointed out above, this full moon is exactly full at around 12:30pm EST, but it won't rise (and the sun won't set) for several hours after that, so the moon won't be exactly 180 degrees from the sun as the sun sets, but it will be close - as it always is around the "full" moon.

[christian deichert]

Edwin: The time and place all depend on your location. Use this link, courtesy of the Farmer's Almanac: <A HREF+"http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html">http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html</A>

<BR><BR>

As for its position in the sky...not a clue. Dammit, Edwin, I'm a doctor*, not an astronomer!

<BR><BR>

*well, JD candidate; but I'm close.

[devan_manan_singh]

Thanks for the info,I did not know the moon will look larger and brighter on Dec.22.I will make plans to be out there that night and

I hope the weather is good,I'm really hoping for some snow.(I live in upstate NY)

However,I had better results when I photographed a full moon partly hidden by clouds or some other part of the landscape.A blue filter adds a cool touch also.When I try for clear shot of the moon it usually looks elongated and blurred,mostly it looks like a headlight from a car.

Any help on this subject?

[pete_caluori]

In re. to Devan's question, I believe the answer lies in your shutter speed. If your shutter speed is too slow you'll record the Earth & Moon's movement. For a full moon with ISO 50 - 100 film try 1/125 at f8 - f11 and bracket.

 

Regards,

[m._huber]

If you go below 1/60, you will get moon movement, which changes moon's shape; If you expose more than Pete's guidelines, you will not get any detail. This exposure is for a picture of the full moon, not moonscape.

[bobatkins]

"Sunny f11" (i.e. 1/90 at f11 for ISO 100 film) is about the right exposure for the full moon when it's high in the sky. Just like the sun it is significantly dimmer when just rising or setting, due to the increased scattering and absorption of light as the atmospheric path length increases.

 

As I said earlier. The moon won't really look much larger or brighter than normal. Unless, of course, you expect it to, in which case it probably will! The moon always LOOKS larger when rising, but this is purely an illusion. If you measure the moons diameter when rising and when overhead, it's exactly the same. The brain simply thinks it looks bigger when near the horizon.

 

Unless you are shooting with a lens in the 300-600+ range, moonrise shots are often disspointing due to the small moon. Of course if the light is right, the foreground is interesting enough and you happen to be Ansel Adams, you can get pretty spectuacular results without using a telephoto lens...

[devan_manan_singh]

Thanks for the help.

I will be using a 300 lens,probably Provia 100F or Velvia,and will

take a few exposures with my 80A filter.

 

Happy Shooting!

[knut_sverre_horn]

"full moons always rise at sunset and set at sunrise"

 

Where I live (Varanger Peninsula, Norway), the sun set at November 23rd and won't rise again until January 21st. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe I saw a full moon during the dark months last year...

 

Where on Earth would the rule quoted above be valid as an approximation?

[jeff_greenberg]

<i>>The moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee...</i><p>

 

14% larger than the <i><b>smallest</b></i> full moon which means it will only be about 7% larger than typical full moon? (like zooming from 100mm to 107mm)

[knut_sverre_horn]

Oops, too little caffein... Let me correct myself: No sun would mean that the full moon doesn't set at all if the above mentioned rule was absolutely true. Still, I think the full moon sets in the darkest winter months also. And I still would like the information asked for in my previous posting, TIA!

[m._huber]

According to many articles written on full moons, if you want a little bit of landscape, you take a double exposure or take the shot the day before the full moon, when it is closer to sunset time.

According to Murphy's law, both days will be stormy, cloudy, or overcast.

As to when and where, your paper should have the local sun and moon settings in a Almnac section usually on the weather page. A few days before the full moon, check the direction it rises and check the time difference between the printed times and the times at your house. ie. Because of mountains, I need to allow for an additional 35 minutes.

[russ_arcuri]

<i><b>"full moons always rise at sunset and set at sunrise"</b><p>

 

Where I live (Varanger Peninsula, Norway), the sun set at November 23rd and won't rise again until January 21st. ... Where on Earth would the rule quoted above be valid as an approximation?</i><p>

 

In more southerly latitudes -- in fact, most of the rest of the world. Quite simply, the moon cannot appear 'full' unless the light source (the sun) is 'behind' the observer -- in a sense, in the opposite side of the sky. For most people, the sun rises and sets every day. The sun does "rise" and "set" for you too -- it's just that the highest point it "rises" to is still below your horizon. That doesn't mean that the moon never sets, though -- it still orbits the earth.* So sometimes it is on the side of the earth opposite where you are, and sometimes it's on 'your' side of the earth.<p>

 

* The moon actually orbits the earth in a west to east direction. However, because the earth is rotating much faster than the moon is orbiting, it 'catches up' and causes the moon to <i>appear</i> to be orbiting east to west.

[larry h.]

Hi Knut-Sverre. This forum is often accused of being USA-centric, but you have exposed us as being ignorant mid-latitudes photographers as well. Touche'. (I hope that's a universal term, at least it's French).

 

If my understanding is correct (I am an amateur astronomer, not a professional), on the day of the full moon, except for around the equinoxes, and except for very closely above the Arctic Circle, the moon should remain above the horizon all night. But the moon moves at approximately 12.5 degrees per day, or 0.5 degree per hour (which happens to be the moon's diameter). At that rate, once you get very far from the actual moment of the full moon, it can start moving below the horizon. That's why being around the equinoxes or near the Arctic Circle would affect moon rise and moon set. Being more specific would require knowing your latitude, the date and the use of trigonometry, I think. Oh yeah, you would probably need to know the moon's inclination (or angle) to the ecliptic at that point in its orbit, as well.

[devan_manan_singh]

Responding to Jim M.

<Moonrise same time sunsets...>

Today I noticed the moon almost directly above my head,

@2:30pm,about two hours before sunset.

Come to think of it,I noticed the moon and the sun sharing the

same sky a couple of times before !

[russ_arcuri]

You may have noticed the moon and sun in the sky (relatively) close together, but the moon was certainly not <b>FULL</b> when you saw it that way. The only way to have a full moon is if the moon is in the opposite side of the sky as the sun, such that it is being lit from behind you while you're looking at it.<p>

 

When the moon and sun are in opposite sides of the sky, you can only see them both at the same time at around the times of sunset and sunrise. And of course, if the sun never rises high enough to break the horizon (as is the case for people living in/near the arctic circle right now), you can still see the full moon but rest assured the sun is "behind" you when you're facing it.

[russ_arcuri]

Also, you might be interested in <a href="http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/pr_991217brightmoon.html">this article.

</a>

[devan_manan_singh]

Look's like cloudy weather anyway =(

Murphy's Law!

[rick_moore]

Just for the archives, there's another good article on full moon

illusion here:

 

http://dallasnews.com/science/15268_MOON10.html