Once again the full moon is upon us this week, and if you’re a regular reader of this column, you know I have a tendency to whine about it.
After all, the full moon is the enemy of true amateur astronomy and stargazing with its whitewashing of our night skies, forcing telescopes back into a garage, closet or some other hiding place.
While the stargazing side of me is not a lover of the full moon, the rest of me is — especially this month, as we get the best full mooning of the year.
The full moon of October is known traditionally as the Hunter’s Moon. September’s full moon is called the Harvest moon, as farmers used the light of the full moon to harvest their crops, especially before there were headlights on tractors.
October’s full moon is called the Hunter’s Moon, because after the farm fields were cleared the same farmers could freely stalk their fields in the moonlight and cut down critters that were gleaning the leftover grain.
A lot of people, including myself, like to call the October full moon the Great Pumpkin moon, since it’s close to Halloween.
Without a doubt it does look like a giant pumpkin as it rises in a deep orange hue around sunset. As it turns out, the Great Pumpkin moon of 2007 will be extra great, because it will be the largest and closest full moon of the year. Friday, when the moon is exactly full, it will be a good 7 percent to 8 percent larger than average.
The moon’s obedient 27.3-day orbit around the Earth is not exactly circular. It’s more of an oval shape, otherwise known as an ellipse, with Earth a little off center. That means that every lunar month the moon reaches it closest point to the Earth, known as perigee, when it’s less than 222,000 miles away; and its farthest point from our world, called apogee, when it’s more than 252,000 miles away.
This month, it works out that the full moon and perigee are just about at the same time. Since the full moon is closer to Earth this month, its gravitational tug is a tiny bit stronger. Not only does that have an amplifying effect on ocean tides, but it’s also argued that its effects on people and their behavior may be just a little more profound than a conventional full moon. Be careful out there.
Not only is the full moon this month the largest of the year, but it’s also starting to take a larger and higher arc across the sky this time of year as it makes it’s journey from east to west. Who knows? That could add to the lunacy.
Just like many of you, one of my favorite things to do when I gaze at any full moon is to try to spot the “man on the moon.”
The moon’s surface is about a 50-50 mix of heavily cratered white highlands and dark flat volcanic plains traditionally referred to as maria, or seas, because a long time ago, some people thought those dark splotches were actually bodies of water.
It’s the dark splotches on the moon that make up the face of the man on the moon. A lot of people see a lot of different kinds of faces. Some see a sad face with dark sunken eyes. Others see a face with a surprised look, similar to the old ’70s and ’80s vintage claymation character “Mr. Bill,” from NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Personally, I see a kindly old man whose eyes reflect the wisdom of the ages, eyes that have seen it all on planet Earth. My man on the moon also has a satisfied and thoughtful grin. What kind of face do you see on the full moon? Check out the Great Pumpkin moon for yourself this week.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Washington Starwatch”, available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.
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