Beautiful Moon and it's phases

Please share with your friends and let them enjoy the wonders above too !

Moon is the largest visible space object to earth, hence, often ignored for the wonderful viewing experiences it proved. Apart from the day the full moon we admire, there are several phases of the moon that one could observe.

Micro Moon - A Micromoon happens when a Full Moon or a New Moon coincides with apogee; the point in the Moon's orbit farthest away from Earth

Super Moon - A Super Moon happens when a Full Moon or New Moon is near the Moon's closest approach to Earth; also called perigee

The Blue Moon 

Blue Moon - There are two definitions of a Blue Moon; both are a type of Full Moon. If the moon actually looks blue, it's caused by a rare type of dust in the atmosphere. The other is when there are two full moons during a calendar month. 

Black Moon - There are several definitions of a Black Moon. It can be the third New Moon in an astronomical season with four New Moons or the second New Moon in the same calendar month.

Red Moon - This is when the moon gets a reddish colour due to moon passing through the penumbra of earth. Penumbra is explained in below picture 

Perigee and Apogee

The Moon's orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle, but elliptical, with one side closer to Earth than the other. As a result, the distance between the Moon and Earth varies throughout the month and the year. On average the distance is about 382,900 kilometers (238,000 miles).

The point on the Moon's orbit closest to Earth is called the perigee and the point farthest away is the apogee.

The Red Moon

Lunar Eclipse 

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its Shadow (Umbra). This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes or the distance from Earth. 

Moon Phases

The sunlight that reflects onto the Moon's surface we call a Moon phase. The amount of that light we can see from our point of view on Earth varies every day. The lunar month is generally divided into four primary and four intermediate Moon phases: New Moon, Waxing Crescent Moon, First Quarter Moon, Waxing Gibbous Moon, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous Moon, Third Quarter Moon, and Waning Crescent Moon.

Watching the phases of the moon and how the position and shadow of the moon changes can be a fun activity. There are other fun instances that can be associated to the moon as when the International Space Station travels across the visible moon surface. (Click here for Video)

Taking photographs of the full moon whilst birds or objects flying in front is considered rare and fun. Have fun with the moon and please do share your photographs and experiences with us.

Iridium Flares

  

  

An Iridium flare is a type of visibility that a satellite produces (also known as satellite glint) when the antennas of an Iridium communication satellite reflect sunlight directly onto the surface of the Earth. Whoever is looking at the right spot at the right time will see a brief but bright flare in the sky which is sometimes brighter than Venus and even the Moon (when it's not full).

However, you don't have to depend on sheer luck to see an Iridium flare. The Skyabove service will provide you with an SMS alert on the brightest flares that occur from time to time and the directions to view it from.

To better experience Iridium Flares, you could follow the below mentioned steps...

1. Use the details provided by the SkyAbove service.
2. Determine your location in coordinates (Predictions are based on SL center line, hence, the angle and time of viewing will differ minutely.
3. Recheck the prediction shortly before observing to reconfirm the time and directions.
4. Make sure your clock or watch is tuned as precisely as possible, otherwise you'll likely miss it or be too early and think it's over. usually, the time variant is + / - 3 minutes for Sri Lanka.
5. Go outside at least a couple of minutes prior to the time listed on the correct date.
6. Look in the direction and altitude listed.

There are Many Satellites that orbit the Earth at any given time.. 

An Iridium flare looks like a star that moves slowly and quickly brightens, then slowly fades away. Sometimes it leaves a visible trail, fades away in less than a second from becoming visible, or lasts more than a minute, it is most likely either a meteor, a fireball or even the International Space Station.

Some terms that we use to provide Exact location to view are as below.

• Azimuth - Measured clockwise around the observer's horizon from north; north has an azimuth of 0°, east 90°, south 180° and west 270°.
• Altitude - Overhead is 90°, directly in front of you is 0°.

Determining the correct altitude to watch is a bit more difficult than the azimuth, especially in the twilight before stars begin to appear, which is the usual time satellites are seen. A handy gauge is your fist held at arm's length - it is approximately 10° 'tall'. I prefer to also extend my index (pointer) and pinky fingers straight out (not 'splayed') to provide a better 0° and 10° gauging point. Place your extended pinky on the horizon in front of you, look up to your index finger & note where it is against the sky -- count "10". Keep your eyes on that spot, and shift your fist upwards until the pinky is where the index was - then up to the index's new position & count "20", & so on. Repeat until you've determined the correct angle - and of course, a 5° (eg, 45° etc.) position falls in the middle between the extended fingers. This 'gauge' is pretty accurate. You can continue up to 90° & if that point is directly overhead, you're doing it correctly.

Below is a video of a recorded Iridium Flare - you can find many such recordings on youtube. Let us know about your experiences too..

 Happy Star Gazing !!!