A beautiful orange/red moon greeted the early evening Arizona horizon this past week. My good friend V noticed the moon and asked about its significance. Well, upon further review, there are a few things to be aware of when we view a orange/red moon:
1) red light is the least scattered near the horizon, as it is the longest wavelength, and as moonlight is just reflected sunlight, this is why the Moon takes on the reddish hue
2) specific particles from a recent volcanic reaction or large fire can cause a clouded and dirty horizon, blocking the shorter length wavelengths and leaving the red/orange spectrum (for those that do not know, Arizona is currently fighting its largest fire in its history)
3) the last is in relation to the celestial event of a lunar eclipse; the Moon is obscured by the Earth's shadow, but once again the red light from the sun's rays is able to breach the edges of the Earth's edge
June's Full Moon is named the strawberry or rose moon. June was known by the Native Americans as the strawberry harvest. Strawberries would be the most abundant and ready for harvest at this time of the year.
June's Full Moon was also known as the Rose Moon, especially in Europe. It was known to spark love interests and romantic airs, and add to the ambiance of a June wedding. I like the idea of the Rose Moon, especially out here in Arizona, as roses do rather well with the hot and dry climate, and tend to bloom fullest between April-June and November-December.
Next week we will espy Hercules and learn of his 12 labors, as well as a great globular star cluster nicknamed the "cotton ball" cluster in Hercules that is visible with a good set of field binoculars.
See you then!
No comments:
Post a Comment