Saturday, January 30, 2010

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Wolf Moon

The Wolf Moon of Mid-Winter will be Supersized Tonight:
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.
 
Wolf Moon Tonight! Beware of Earthquakes!
And as if that were not enough Mars will be Right Next to the Wolf Moon:
Look into the eastern sky about 7 p.m. Friday or 8 p.m. Saturday and you may ask, “What’s that bright, red star next to the full moon?” That’s no star, it’s the planet Mars, and it happens to be a mere 61.7 million miles from Earth, according to Jon U. Bell, director of the Hallstrom Planetarium at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce.  “That’s actually pretty close for Mars,” Bell said.
 Photo Courtesy of Sky&Telescope
I will be observing the Wolf Moon from Zaisan Tolgoi.
 
Zaisan Tolgoi. If you hear someone howling at the Moon it will probably be me.