Posted on 02/01/2022 1:53:26 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: What will the Moon phase be on your birthday this year? It is hard to predict because the Moon's appearance changes nightly. As the Moon orbits the Earth, the half illuminated by the Sun first becomes increasingly visible, then decreasingly visible. The featured video animates images and altitude data taken by NASA's Moon-orbiting Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to show all 12 lunations that appear this year, 2022 -- as seen from Earth's northern (southern) hemisphere. A single lunation describes one full cycle of our Moon, including all of its phases. A full lunation takes about 29.5 days, just under a month (moon-th). As each lunation progresses, sunlight reflects from the Moon at different angles, and so illuminates different features differently. During all of this, of course, the Moon always keeps the same face toward the Earth. What is less apparent night-to-night is that the Moon's apparent size changes slightly, and that a slight wobble called a libration occurs as the Moon progresses along its elliptical orbit.
Today's image is a video at the source link.
I understand just a little
No comprende; it’s a riddle
M.C. Thanks!
Good thing we have the moon!
“Snip.....In November 2021, René Heller of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany and colleagues came up with another potential source of heat. Shortly after the moon formed, it was likely 15 times closer to Earth than it is today. The moon’s gravity would have had a huge impact, creating enormous tidal waves that towered 2 kilometers above any magma or liquid-water oceans present. It would also have pushed and pulled Earth’s interior, generating extreme tidal heating that increased the planet’s temperature. While not enough to solve the faint young sun paradox on its own, the moon could have given Earth a vital boost over our planet’s first 100 million to 300 million years, increasing Earth’s temperature by several degrees and helping to drive volcanic activity across the surface....Snip”
Good music choice for the video. It is always “hard to predict” if there will be a hidden pet, but worth checking.
Yes, You have to search the links to see if they snuck a pet picture in one of them. It is only once in a while so it is - hard to predict!
I know. “hard to predict” is today’s link to the pooch. I always refer to the pet link if there is one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.