Full Moon
esiegel | December 27, 2012"Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy." -Henri Frederic Amiel
Tonight is a special night, although not for the reasons you may think. Yes, it's just a few days after Christmas and before the new year, but tonight is the night of the Full Moon closest to the winter solstice.
Image credit: Judy Stone-Goldman.
Up here in the northern hemisphere (above the Tropic of Cancer), December 21st corresponds to the winter solstice, or the shortest day in terms of…
esiegel | September 18, 2012"Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not." -Galileo Galilei
All of science is rooted in the idea that natural phenomena can be explained naturally, and that if we want to know how anything in the Universe works, all we need to do is ask the Universe the right questions, and the answers will appear.
So what about the question of the night sky, and why it appears to rotate the way it does?
Image credit: Peter Michaud (Gemini Observatory), AURA, NSF.
There are two straightforward explanations for…
esiegel | August 2, 2012"Ignignokt: Well well, I know that. I said that, but it's his nap time now.
Err: 'Cause he like, sleeps during the day.
Ignignokt: But at night he feeds.
Err: And it's always night on the Moon!
Ignignokt: Don't f*** with me, Err." -Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Moon Master
Ahh, the Moon. The brightest object in our night sky is familiar to all inhabitants of Earth, and during its full phase, easily outshines everything else in the night sky, combined.
Image credit: Furious Photos -- Amazing pictures by a delusional hack.
Capable of casting strong shadows, and easily giving off a light that's…