Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Worm Moon Rising

This one's for Beejay who commented in my previous blog about seeing the full Moon rise last night. The Moon was rising over the Rincon Mountains on the east side of Tucson as I rode my scooter home after my after-work run. I saw the Moon from when it firste peeked above the moutains. The Moon illusion was in full force (the illusion that the Moon appears larger near the horizon). I have always thought the Moon illusion is more pronounced over the mountains.

March's full Moon is known as the Worm Moon. Guess it signals when the worms come up after the winter. Here is a picture I snapped when I got home.

worm-moon10001

And here it is through the Galileoscope. I used a different camera tonight and like the results better. I literally just took a cheap HP point and shoot digital camera on a tripod and pointed it into the eyepiece (although it is tougher to get it lined up than you might think! It has to be really well centered and pointing straight into the eyepiece...if it's off just a little bit, it doesn't work).

worm-moon0001

at

7 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 11, 2009 at 3:48 PM

    Worm moon...that reminds me. I have to take the dog to the vet.

    Nice Pics HB!

    ReplyDelete
  2. drewzepmeisterMarch 11, 2009 at 4:08 PM

    Beautiful pics,Hale!

    ReplyDelete
  3. OrbsCorbsMarch 11, 2009 at 5:13 PM

    Outstanding photo of the moonrise over the mountains. Nice job with the telescope, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ToadMarch 11, 2009 at 6:29 PM

    If a Worm Moon exists, does that mean that a "Bad Moon" does, and what is it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. kkditherMarch 12, 2009 at 7:04 AM

    I loved the video you shot. I actually saw the peak you were talking about. I have to get one of those telescopes...

    ReplyDelete
  6. kkditherMarch 12, 2009 at 10:06 AM

    I just checked the Farmer's Almanac link. I'm sure huck and cyndi would prefer this alternative name they show for the full March moon:

    The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation.

    I sure miss my maple tree....

    ReplyDelete
  7. hale-boppMarch 12, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    When I was growing up, I had nothing but pure maple syrup from my recently retired grandparents who had a lot of free time and some land with a lot of maple trees. About 15 years ago, they finally got a little on the old side to tap that many trees every year.

    I am going to take a couple of nights off from imaging...I wasn't getting much sleep this week. Last night was a star party at a school. By the time I got home, I didn't feel like setting everything up again.

    Schools here are lucky in the astronomy department. They can just call up and get a small army of telescopes to show up at their school for a night with some pretty top notch astronomers running them.

    ReplyDelete