Re: Has the moon moved?
- From: Dr John Stockton <jrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:58:25 +0100
JRS: In article <1149890464.843661.162070@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
, dated Fri, 9 Jun 2006 15:01:04 remote, seen in news:sci.astro.amateur,
admyc@xxxxxxxxxxx posted :
I have just driven back from Oxford to London (England), down the M40
which runs more or less South-East to London (maybe a little bit more
East than South). On my journey which took about 1 1/2 hours and
started at about 21.00 GMT, I noticed that the moon which appears to be
nearly full was always to my right hand side.
In Summer, the Sun is high. Not only is it high at noon, it is also
high at midnight, which means that it is not far below the horizon.
Indeed, we don't get full night in Summer; we get Astronomical and
Nautical, but not Civil, twilight all night, at 52 deg N - see
Whitaker's Almanac for 2001 & hopefully for other years.
The Full Moon being opposite to the Sun, it is low in midsummer; it
rises to the south-east and sets to the south-west, more or less (and
the Sun correspondingly is biased to the North). Others have in various
ways said that.
But the Moon's orbit is tilted at 5 degrees or so to the Sun's apparent
orbit, as seen from Earth; and that's why we don't get one eclipse of
each sort in every lunar month (for lunar months, consult your Rabbi or
Imam). At present, that tilt makes the midsummer Full Moon 5 degrees
lower than average at midnight; the whole path is depressed, and the
effect of the previous paragraph is exaggerated.
Correspondingly, New Moon is raised, which is why you may have seen the
near-New Moon unusually high when near the South; and likewise it is
unusually high, meaning not far below the horizon, in the North. In
fact, if on the right day of this Spring, you had gone to Muckle Flugga
(the most northerly land in the UK) and climbed its lighthouse (if it
has one), you would almost have been able to see the Moon passing in the
North - the Land of the Midnight Moon.
Weather permitting, the Faroese might have seen that happen; Finns and
Icelanders should be accustomed to it.
French and Americans in particular should recall that the Columbiad was
placed in central Florida, at about 28 degrees N; which IIRC made its
completion a matter of urgency to avoid an 18-year delay.
--
© John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v4.00 MIME. ©
Web <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/> - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links;
Astro stuff via astron-1.htm, gravity0.htm ; quotings.htm, pascal.htm, etc.
No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News.
.
- References:
- Has the moon moved?
- From: admyc
- Has the moon moved?
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