Once in a Blue Moon and other things
January 13th 2010 02:39
The start of 2010 has some interesting evening viewing, perhaps not so in colder regions especially after this latest winter freeze. While we in Australia wilt under the heat and devastating bush fires.
The other day I was asked what a blue moon was and I think I have written a blog about it in the past. The most recent blue moon was on December 2nd 2009 and again on January the 1st 2010.
The moon did not appear blue , it is just a reference made to there being two full moons in a month as being rare. A blue moon is when there are two full moons in one month, this occurs every 2.5 years.
The next blue moon will be on August 31 2012
January 30 will be a full moon and it will be its closest to earth and therefore the largest full moon of the year. The Moon won’t appear to be any bigger than normal however in photographs of the moon taken every six months when the photographs are compared the moon does appear slightly larger.
Read my past blog on this topic : "Bad Moon Rising"
I have prepared a graphic example to show you, I have taken two images of a full Moon using the same cameral and lens on each occasion. The first image on the left was taken on July 31 2007 the Image on the right was taken on September 26 2007
January 29 - Mars at Opposition. The Martian planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its disc will be fully illuminated by the Sun.
This year's approach will not be quite as close as it was in historic 2003, when Mars was only 34.7 million miles away. The closest Mars gets to earth is around 32 million miles that only happens every 60 thousand years or so.
This time at Mars’s closest approach is only 61.7 million miles, this is the best time to view and photograph Mars the next approach favourable approach to earth will be in another 4 years time.
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