Does anyone really care about the supermoon?

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

I too have been guilty of dismissing the Full Moon as a just a pain in the bum.

Not any more!

Not since testing out a newly acquired eyepiece last summer and the Moon was the only target to be seen through some whispy cloud.

There is one aspect of the Moon that really gets bugger all attention, and is just cannon fodder for when it is full - the limb!

The only time that there really are no shadows on the Moon is when there is a lunar eclipse. Yes it is behind Earth's shadow, but it is also the only time that for us on Earth that sunlight falling on the Moon is exactly square to us, so shadows wouldn't be seen.

Every other time, with the Moon's orbit ranging north and south of Earth's rotation plane, shadows are ALWAYS visible, and only on its limb during the full phase.

Why get excited about this? MOUNTAINS, VALLEYS, CRATERS, RILES, all seen in profile, not from above.

Huge mountains, with craggy slopes, valleys and ridges, plunging down into the abyss and soaring up into the dark night sky, and shadows thrown back far, far away.

I had seen the work of a very good Korean astronomer who loves sketching the limb's details with his large refractors. To my shame I thought these were fanciful, Oh, how wrong I was...

Then throw libration into the equation, and the Full Moon becomes a brilliant opportunity to nail some of the Moon's more exotic features that are visible for only a handful of days during the whole year!

I've attached a couple of photos of sketches I've done around the limb of the Moon while a day or two off its full phase. One of these (the second image) is of the crater Drygalski which is completely libration dependent. Getting a sketch done while full all depends on getting all the ducks to line up - work, family, clouds, seeing, etc...

Markus, whether the Moon is 'normal' or a 'supermoon', seeing any details on it totally depends on the prevailing seeing conditions. The smallest details I've been able to pull have been at 400X, and these on the Moon measure 500m across (big features in size, but flaming tiny through a scope being pumped as far as it and my eyes will go). And a 14% "larger" appearance won't make a real improvement to this.

What the Supermoon really does is give us astro nutters the opportunity to engage with novices with a target that they've seen all their lives and most likely never gave it much thought. That's the BIG deal about the Supermoon.

I hope this helps you, and gives you a new outlook on what the Full Moon actually has to offer.

Alex.

[bojan]

Alex, those are very nice drawings.

[xelasnave]

Alex may I also say ...very nice.
You have the passion of an artist and the reason of a scientist.
Great post.
Alex

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Thank you Bojan and Alex.

Alex, you are a master of flattery,

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by mental4astro

Thank you Bojan and Alex.

Alex, you are a master of flattery,

Flattery as you call it isno more than observing the good qualities of another human which often they do not see in themselves but others do.
And then pointing those good qualities without going overboard or causing embarrassment.
In you case I could have made a list but I confined myself to your artistry.
Alex

[Baza (Barry)]

Great drawings.

I'm certainly going to look & tell people, it is an event that I probably will not see again and if still around I may not have the capacity to view. Can't change it, so might as well enjoy whats there.

I see the moon's value & nuisance. On open nights there are lots who ask to view the moon, lots of photos taken & questions. It's the detail. People don't seem to be impressed with Mars and unfortunately lots of good stuff is obscured by trees or local light.

Look at the tides on that day.

Barry

[julianh72 (Julian)]

I'm as thrilled as anybody that all the media hype meant that lots of people got out last night to look at the Moon, something that perhaps they rarely do.

All the breathless excitement on the evening news reports was great to see - but I'm sure that half of the people were simply seeing the "Full Moon Illusion" and not realising that they can basically see the same thing EVERY month. I suspect the other half were left thinking "Hmmmm - it doesn't look all that "super" to me?!"

Without wanting to rain on anyone's parade - I prepared the attached diagram to show my family and work colleagues, showing all of the Full Moons of 2016 drawn true scale. Can YOU "Spot the Supermoon"?

[PCH (Paul)]

Alexander, I'd be interested to hear how long one of your amazing drawings takes to complete. They're so detailed, it looks they they must surely take forever, but I'm guessing you have it down to a fine art by now.

Cheers

[Satchmo]

The tragedy was that sky was clear at midnight in Sydney the night before - the moon was 98.4 illuminated and the `supermoon ' was as super as it was going to get , and it was completely ignored as the public and media were lead to believe it was something only going to happen last night ... For that matter , the Moon will be 98.4% tonight and we have fair weather cumulus around so no excuses tonight .

Personally , I stepped out , saw the sky was clear , noted everything strongly lit by moonlight , but I didn't bother to even look . Being dazzled by the full moon was something I gave up about 30 years ago , though I don't mind seeing a deep orange full moon when it is rising .

[Stonius (Markus)]

Originally Posted by julianh72

I'm as thrilled as anybody that all the media hype meant that lots of people got out last night to look at the Moon, something that perhaps they rarely do.

All the breathless excitement on the evening news reports was great to see - but I'm sure that half of the people were simply seeing the "Full Moon Illusion" and not realising that they can basically see the same thing EVERY month. I suspect the other half were left thinking "Hmmmm - it doesn't look all that "super" to me?!"

Without wanting to rain on anyone's parade - I prepared the attached diagram to show my family and work colleagues, showing all of the Full Moons of 2016 drawn true scale. Can YOU "Spot the Supermoon"?

Exactly

I feel wary of promoting a 'supermoon' to the general public that won't be able to see much difference. Sure a lot of people went out and looked up, but if the expectations are too high, the response is 'meh, it doesn't look much different to *me!' with the associated disappointment or frustration. This could ultimately drive people away from astronomy, rather than bring them to it as it feels like astronomy is 'hard' because they're 'doing it wrong'.

-Markus

[MortonH]

I was completely ignoring it until my daughter suddenly said (just before bed) "Dad, it's supermoon tonight!". Apparently her teacher mentioned it at school yesterday. So I ended up with my 4" and 66mm refractors on the balcony.

I told her she'd be able to tell her classmates that she'd looked at the moon through two telescopes, but she corrected me and said she'd looked through THREE as she was also counting the finderscope on the 4"!

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Thanks Paul. A lunar sketch usually takes me about 2 hours.

I agree about not promoting the term "supermoon". It does nothing more than create misunderstanding, and even promotes ignorance and superstition. Instead I try to direct the conversation to something more factually based. Even if its just to make people aware of the full Moon not being the best phase to view the Moon, or the tidal locking of the Moon showing us the same face, anything. The public's imagination and attention has been gained, WE then have the opportunity to undo the crap promoted by the mass media.

Change the world! That's what I'm gonna do!!
:ato m::po ke:

[Giritboy]

Too bad it was very cloudy in wollongong.

[Stonius (Markus)]

Case in point. This just popped up in my newsfeed

[multiweb (Marc)]

Actually it was only 80cm.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Blooming brilliant Markus!

Yep, we'll all be rooned by this Supermoon, said Hanrahan...

Julian, your post and pic are brilliant too.

I do have to admit to thinking a similar sentiment when I saw the Moon peek through the clouds. But it did get the Moon the most attention its had since 1969...

Then again, I've also had people think that I was somehow trying to trick them into looking at the Sun and destroy their vision even though I was using a solar scope and was just looking through the damned thing too. Go figure, Maybe it was the hollows burned through my head where my eyes were that made them suspicious...