Once In A Blue Moon !

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

A blue moon often is an expression which refers to a rare event. The most noted astronomical explanation is that a blue moon is the second full Moon in a calendar moth. The 2nd of July bought to us the first of two full Moons this month, our second full Moon will come on Saturday, July 31st. The blue moon can also be interpreted as the 4th full moon in a season.

Our Moon is maybe the only astronomical object that we can examine in details without the use of magnifications, we can even look at the moon during daylight hours.



In 1959 the Russians designed a probe which flew past the moon and returned information. In 1961 John F Kennedy outlined a daring plan which described a desire to explore the Moon. In 1969 the US Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the lunar surface.

When will humans step on another world, when will mankind return to the moon ? Since the final Apollo mission in 1972 no one has returned. More recently China announced its desire to study the moon and outer space in much greater detail.

Europe is now creating designs for new space craft, one recent probe is using a new ion engine system to fly to the moon. Let's hope mankind returns to the moon soon for study and discovery about the life outside eath and the biological challenge of going into space and learning more about our solar system.

You don't even need a telescope to look at the Moon, just pointed digital cam at the sky and took this simple photo

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

you can see the image again here

http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uplo...s/images/98.jpg (http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uploads/images/98.jpg)

a tiny bit bigger

[Spacemad]

:) Nice photo!

I had no idea there were two full moons in a calendar month. I suppose that as there are 13 months in the Lunar calendar a full moon must be repeated at least once a year but I had never given any thought to it before!

[Lomitus]

Hey Taikonaut,
Your "facts" section there reminded me of a commercial I saw on TV a while back (and haven't been able to stop laughing about it ever since!).

"In 1972 man went to the moon and discovered it was made of rock and not cheese...we haven't been back since. Behold the power of cheese..." LOL!!!! That commercial just cracks me up every time I see it!

I had caught that we have a blue moon this month...my wife and I are heading down to Southern Ohio this next week for two weeks of camping and the area we're going to just happens to be one of only two dark sky sites listed for Ohio. Needless to say I printed out a "Moon calander" from the Orion version of "The Sky" software so that we could plan the trip around it (make sure I get some good dark nights and all!) and I noticed the blue Moon right away. Another little FYI for everyone...if you have a copy of "The Sky - Level 1" (regardless of the vendor) you can print out nice Moon calanders for each month that will show you exactly what phase the moon is in for any given day as well as Moon (and Sun) rise and set times....very nice for planning your telescope viewing sessions :D

Don't get me wrong...I love the moon (my religion sort of demands it hehehe...eclectic Pagan in case your wondering), but boy does that sucker get in the way when your tryin to look at nebulas and other DSO's! LOL! This last full moon was rather low on the horizon and I noticed that it was actually brighter then the street light in front of my house...talk about washing out the night sky!

Nice pic btw...kind of a shame it didn't have a little more magnification though. Set against the clouds like that on the blue evening sky, thats always really something to behold. :)

Bright Blessings & Gentle Breezes,
Jim Walczak

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Eclectic Pagan, wow I'm surprised.

Enjoy the stars in Souther Ohio I'm sure there will be clear skies

I'll try to get some more Moon pics and post some pictures of bigger magnification soon

[Spacemad]

Today I got a newsletter from NASA & it talks about the "Blue Moon" events.

Have a look here: Blue Moon (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/07jul_bluemoon.htm?list902052)

It confirms my memories: The time was 1883, the year an Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa exploded. This explosion caused great clouds of dust to rise up into the high atmosphere & circle the world which produced a blue moon to be seen in all the world.

Apparently ash from forest fires can produce the same effects - something I didn´t know about.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

very good NASA link Spacemad

and thanks everyone for all the good remarks. You can see another one of my Moon pictures here

http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uplo...s/images/93.jpg (http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uploads/images/93.jpg)

the Lunar landscape can be a great to take photos of :)

[Dave Mitsky]

Actually, the NASA article wasn't entirely accurate in saying, "According to modern folklore, a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month." This definition grew out of a self-perpetuating mistake that appeared in Sky & Telescope in 1946 and certainly not out of folklore. The original calendrical definition, as distinct from the presence of volcanic ash, was the third full moon in a season having four full moons.

For more see http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/news/...rticle_1313.asp (http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/news/article_1313.asp) and http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bluemoon1.html

Dave Mitsky

[astronomy2004]

Originally posted by Spacemad@Jul 9 2004, 07:18 PM
Today I got a newsletter from NASA & it talks about the "Blue Moon" events.

Have a look here: Blue Moon (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/07jul_bluemoon.htm?list902052)


that is my blue moon on Nasa's Page. :).

I used a blue filter from a Pair Of 3D Glasses.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

messin' around a little


reversed colour playing with a Lunar pic photo shop

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Another Moon photo here

http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uplo.../images/106.jpg (http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uploads/images/106.jpg)

:)

[seeker372011]

Nice moon pic , TDH. could you add some details..single frame? multiple frames stacked? mosaic? any processing? and so on
TIA

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Thanks seeker372011

Very little process of that photo after I picked what part of the Moon I wanted to shoot then
Just had the LX90 and the Auto-Star Suite program to automatically align and combine a few shots to get that Moon picture

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

A pic of the Lunar Rays and the Seas . The Moon material that goes blasting up as ejecta, can come falling back down onto the surface as rays,
with your telescope you'd see the bright streaks of material that radiate outward from the area of a crater impact.
You can spot the Seas and Ray systems much better during a full moon, because of their strong contrast with the Moon's surface the Maria are visible to the naked eye, the Oceanus Procellarum ( Ocean of Storms ) is the longest of the Moon's maria, these high contrast features are best seen during a full Moon. B)

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Originally posted by Spacemad@Jul 9 2004, 07:18 PM
Today I got a newsletter from NASA & it talks about the "Blue Moon" events.

Have a look here: Blue Moon (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/07jul_bluemoon.htm?list902052)

It confirms my memories: The time was 1883, the year an Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa exploded. This explosion caused great clouds of dust to rise up into the high atmosphere & circle the world which produced a blue moon to be seen in all the world.

Apparently ash from forest fires can produce the same effects - something I didn´t know about.
good info :)

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Originally posted by Dave Mitsky@Aug 2 2004, 07:24 AM
Actually, the NASA article wasn't entirely accurate in saying, "According to modern folklore, a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month." This definition grew out of a self-perpetuating mistake that appeared in Sky & Telescope in 1946 and certainly not out of folklore. The original calendrical definition, as distinct from the presence of volcanic ash, was the third full moon in a season having four full moons.

For more see http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/news/...rticle_1313.asp (http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/news/article_1313.asp) and http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bluemoon1.html

Dave Mitsky
NASA wasn't entirely accurate, how could that happen ??

So it isn't folklore then :)

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Another Moon picture, this pic was taken on the 9th of November.

As night-time stars to set on the near side some wonderful features become visible on the Moon. After the last Quater and just as the Moon goes past its wanning crescent some nice features become faintly illuminated. Daylight has come to the farside but some subtle craters and complex features are still visible on the nearside.



Here you can see craters Hevelius, Cavelerius and Lohrmann they are Situated west of the Sea know as Oceanus Procellarum

[damienpaul]

Brilliant shot TDH!

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Originally posted by damienpaul@Nov 20 2004, 09:09 AM
Brilliant shot TDH!
Thanks Damienpaul

I'll try to keep them coming

[damienpaul]

no worries, please do keep them coming.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Photo of the Moon taken with the LX90 and LPI cam . Some nice craters, ridges and other large features can be seen in this pic.

Photo taken on the 2nd of December 2004

[astronomy2004]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/kostian/DSCN0842_DSCN0853_filtered_640x480.jpg

[Spacemad]

Originally posted by Taikonaut Dongfang Hong@Dec 9 2004, 06:35 AM
Photo of the Moon taken with the LX90 and LPI cam . Some nice craters, ridges and other large features can be seen in this pic.

Photo taken on the 2nd of December 2004.
:P That's a fantastic image, TDH (excuse the abbbr. :) ) How did you manage to get such a close up shot? Not even NASA´s probes show such incredible detail!!!!!! :o

AS2004 your photo is really incredible, too! The photo of that crater is "out of this world" :P !!!

[astronomy2004]

here's one more :P

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/kostian/DSCN0321_319-322_2.jpg

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

very nice crater shots, Ptolemaeus, Albategnius and Alphonsus look very good :)

The tyco pic is very good, very nice bright shockwaves

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Moon pic



http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uplo.../images/106.jpg (http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uploads/images/106.jpg)

[astronomy2004]

very cool.

1 other one from me :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/kostian/IM000993mod.jpg

[Dave Mitsky]

There's a meager film shot of mine of the lunar CM region at http://www.skyinsight.net/forum/modules.ph...=view_photo.php (http://www.skyinsight.net/forum/modules.php?set_albumName=album10&id=Ptolemaeus_Alphonsus_Arzachel_Rupes_Recta_untit led_2&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php)

Dave Mitsky

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Dave
& Kostian

you've taken great pictures :)

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

a shot of our Moon during daylight

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Another Moon picture

[Spacemad]

As always your images are really good! This new shot of the Moon is extremely clear.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Another picture of the Moon

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

here's a pic again !

http://www.thespacesite.com/community/uploads/images/423.jpg

watch out for the lunar eclipse ( 17th partial ) and solar eclipse coming in the next few days