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?
Night-time refueling over Afghanistan. Luna makes a splendid appearance about 45 seconds in.
And a little music.
Whew, I was beginning to wonder if I was having some sort of experience that freepers would laugh about.
I love nature, but rarely catch these awesome events, so I am excited about it.
So excited, in fact, I dropped everything to google up what I had seen.
Living in the deep woods, with no artificial lights nearby, allows me to really see things above that so many of the unfortunate ones in cities and towns rarely see.
I have a video of a full moon from last year about this time, and clouds were moving past it fast. In the background, and on the audio, I had two big hoot owls in the woods near my house singing their mezmerizing song. It was cool to stand outside and hear, view this at once. Wish I had a telescope with audio.
And tomorrow night, (Christmas Eve) it will be at its highest elevation until the year 2023.
Enjoy it while it lasts
Asteroid May Strike Mars in January 2008
According to Space.com, scientists at the Near Earth Object Program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe a newly discovered asteroid has a 1 in 75 chance of hitting Mars on January 30.
Goodness, no. Thank you also for posting.
I saw this as well tonight. What a neat treat to see. I amazed at all of the astronomical phenomena I’ve been fortunate enough to see in the past five years or so. Many of them are once in a liftime or really infrequent.
Thanks for posting.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
And I am sure Mr. and Mrs. Grammy made a point to show this to two sweet little, anxious, children I know. These kids were probably firing off questions at Grammy : “Is it Santa, when will he get here, how long will it take.”
I am so glad you saw it. It was a total accident that I did, just happened to be driving home from a dinner at my brother’s house and after dropping my Mom off at her home.
C’mon Grammy, we have to jump in our cars and we’ll meet halfway, say Dale Hollow Lake. We might catch a new record smallmouth bass!!!! Just kidding.
But next spring/summer, we will take advantage of these celestial events to slay some fish. Tired of talking about it — my New Year’s resolution is to DO IT this year. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be fishing with than you (no kids next time, no untangling lines and baiting hooks). Another of my resolutions is to really kick your butt on a trout stream (grin) You are ahead for now, but not for long(LOL).
It’s hugh!
“Why is Mars sometimes bright and sometimes faint?”
Because they switched from incandescent bulbs to fluorescents.
Actually, even with some city lights, you can see Mars tonight next to the moon. Until this article, I didn;t know it was Mars.
Now that I’ve seen it, I no longer desire to go there.
Thanks for the ping and for calling the observatory.
Appreciate the kindness of all your work.
I think my binoculars were out of focus the first viewing! LOL.
Blessed sleep to you.
NM PLATEAU a mile high . . . San Jacinto . . . hmmmm
how far from San Gorgonio and the tram?
How deep is the snow? Any snow?
Isn’t Big Bear in those mountains. Been 30+ years since I’ve been there.
It’s too bad because we supposed to see an actual occult up here with the Moon passing in front of Mars.
hee hee heee
If I refuse to go fishing with you does that mean I am forever ahead of you? And with such a *small* fish!
Really, I am ready to go anytime. Cold or not. Let’s just hope this drought will give us a break.
Oh, and granddaughter G declared today that Santa isn’t real. She saw her daddy wrapping a gift and it said “from santa.” (I told you he was a nitwit) Anyway, gson still believes, because I told them if you don’t believe in Santa you don’t get presents from him, and since I still believe I still get them. He is smart enough not to risk it.
?
The only reason im awake is this darn full moon i loose at least 3 nights of sleep a month .... i guess mars pulling on my water is a plus {sarc}
Well its a couple sleeping pills and off to bed and i will still lay awake for at least an hour !
Thanks for posting this.
Just went outside and looked. No city light interference out here in the country. The view was awesome. The stars look like diamonds on black velvet.
God is giving us a heck of a show tonight.
Mars/Moon should be close Monday night as well. Thanks for posting, would've missed it otherwise.
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