Posted on 12/23/2007 8:24:07 PM PST by girlangler
Full moon near Mars on December 23
Earth & Sky Radio Series with hosts Deborah Byrd, Joel Block, Lindsay Patterson and Jorge Salazar.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
For us in the U.S., the full moon is tonight.
And if you look outside you’ll see this full moon near a blazing reddish light in our sky. It’s the planet Mars. Flying through space at 18 miles per second, Earth is about to go between the sun and Mars. Earth will pass between Mars and the sun tomorrow. So the distance between us and Mars is now about at its least for this two-year period, and Mars won’t come anywhere near this close again until the year 2010.
That’s why Mars appears bright in our sky. It’s as bright as the brightest star, Sirius. And Mars is the brightest object near tonight’s moon. Be sure to look for Mars’ reddish color. By the way, tonight’s full moon is the full moon closest to the December solstice. Standing opposite the sun in our sky, tonight’s full moon closely mirrors the position of the June sun. In fact, this full moon is the northernmost full moon of the year.
For the northern hemisphere, the Full Long Night Moon – with Mars nearby – will climb high by midnight tonight. Just be sure to look for the very brilliant star-like object shining near the moon tonight.
By the way, the full moon comes at the same moment for everyone worldwide, but our clocks say different times. The December full moon falls at precisely 1:16 Monday morning Universal Time. In the Americas, the full moon falls during the evening hours tonight. For the world’s Eastern Hemisphere, it’ll be after midnight Monday when the moon turns full. No matter where you live, a full-looking moon shines from dusk till dawn tonight.
Our thanks today to Research Corporation, a foundation for the advancement of science.
Related:
Understanding moon phases
Mars closest to Earth on December 18
Earth between Mars and sun on December 24
Why is Mars sometimes bright and sometimes faint?
I live in the country, no city lights, and the view of this was awesome.
Sounds Sirius.
Go outside!
Lookup!
Saw it too, very cool.
I saw the little beeber this morning in the shower
LOL. Think I’ll turn on my satelitte music station now to Sirius, and to the Moody Blues channel.
Seriously, this was neat to see earlier tonight. I was wondering what that big star was beside the moon. Just went outside again and saw where the star is closer to the moon now.
Anyway, I was curious so I googled it and posted what I found. The moon was absolutely beautiful, and I wondered what that star was about.
Also, wondering what the plentiful deer are doing in my yard, they do come out and feed at night when the moon is full. Could this alignment mean I need to bundle up tonight and go fishing?
Overcast :-(
huntin’
I heard about this on local news.
Wind chill values as low as -5 here.
Maybe my luck will change.
I’m on a 40 year losing streak.
Maybe tommorrow is the day things become great.
Little beebers deserve respect too. I’m glad it made an impression on you ;)
The Moon is actually going to occult Mars for viewers in Europe at around 4am (tomorrow) local time.
My mistress in Madrid will see that
No sleep for “Cancers” The Crab that is !
Check this out when you head to the hunting stand in the morning CL.
Proud_yank, we miss you, call home and let us know if you see it in Alaska.
I think this is cool, ElkGroveDan. So many people live in cities that are so lit up they miss this stuff. But it really was a beautiful sight to behold earlier this evening, when the moon was low.
LOL
We were posting on the same article at the same time but on different threads. I saw it as well this evening. I watched the moon rise then saw mars next to it. It was spectacular. In fact, Mr G took some pictures of it.
Don’t think I can bundle up quite enough to want to go fishing though. I will make some nice hot chocolate however!
It was 50 degrees here today, and after dark, we had blowing rain. It will wash away some of the nasty black stuff on top of the snow on the roadsides, so that's good. We'll still have enough snow on the ground for it to be a White Christmas.
Thanks.
Overcast and snowing
8-(
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