"Wolf" Moon

[n2doc]

Andrew Fazekas
for National Geographic News
Published January 29, 2010



The biggest full moon of 2010 will rise in the east tonight, and it'll appear with a bright sidekick: Mars will cozy up just to the left of the supersize moon.

January's full moon is also called the wolf moon, according to Native American tradition associating this month's full moon with wolves howling in the cold midwinter. (Take a moon myths and mysteries quiz.)

The 2010 wolf moon will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than any other full moon this year, because our cosmic neighbor will actually be closer to Earth than usual.

The moon will be at its closest perigee—the nearest it gets to our planet during its egg-shaped orbit—for 2010 at 4:04 a.m. ET Saturday, reaching a distance of 221,577 miles (356,593 kilometers) from Earth.

At its farthest from Earth, the moon is said to be at apogee. Perigee and apogee each happen generally once a month, but the moon's wobbly orbit means that the satellite's exact distance at each of those events varies over the year. The moon's phase can also be different during each apogee and perigee.

And in a remarkable coincidence, Mars is at opposition tonight—directly opposite to the sun in the sky—so that as the sun sets in the southwest, Mars rises in the northeast.

more:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100129-biggest-full-moon-2010-mars/

[livetohike]

1. I hope there's a clear sky around here tonight

Thanks for the post :hi:.

[sakabatou]

6. Fuck. Missed it.

[CrispyQ]

2. We watched the moon rise last night. It was gorgeous!

We'll check it out again tonight.

Thanks for the great science stories.

[truedelphi]

4. Same here. Quite spectacular. n/t

[Control-Z]

3. Did we miss it?

Wasn't 4:04 a.m. ET Saturday, this morning?

[newfie11]

5. Here in the far SW part of Nebraska panhandle

It was spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!