October is the best of months. Neon leaves against a deep blue sky. Crisp cool air and warm sunshine. Time for both outdoor campfires and indoor wood stoves. The smell of wood smoke. Paddling, biking, hiking. Maybe even one last swim. Oktoberfests with sausage and beer!
Well, maybe no Oktoberfests this strange year. How about a lunarfest instead? Actually two of them because this October hosts two full Moons, one on the first and one on the thirty-first. I plan on toasting both of them with a beer and maybe even a sausage.
In honor of this two Moon month I've dug up a few interesting facts about our closest celestial neighbor along with a few neat images gleaned from the web.
🌕 At the beginning of this month we have the Harvest Moon and at the end is the Hunters Moon. The names originated with Native Americans. The second of two full Moons in a month is also sometimes called a Blue Moon. Only happens every couple of years, thus "Once in a Blue Moon".
🌕 The Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit the Earth. This is called the synodic month. It is directly opposite the Sun and fully illuminated once every orbital cycle. Thus every month except February could occasionally host a 'Blue Moon'.
🌕 It takes 1.28 seconds for light to travel from the Moon to Earth. All of that light originated from the Sun. While appearing very bright against the dark night sky, the Moon's reflectance is only a little more than that of asphalt.
🌕 The Moon rotates on its axis in the same amount of time it takes to orbit around the Earth. That's the reason it always shows the same side to us. Until spacecraft visited no one had ever seen the far side.
🌕 In a serendipitous coincidence the Sun and the Moon appear to be the same size as seen from Earth. In fact, the Sun is much larger but also much farther away. Solar eclipses are possible because the Moon can cover the Sun when they align perfectly. Since the Moon is very slowly (inches per year) moving away from us, at some point in the distant future eclipses will all be annular with a bright ring of the Sun showing around the Moon, rather than total with the Sun's disk completely blocked.
🌕 It seems like the Moon shows up more in arts and culture than it does in the sky. Moonstruck is the 1987 romantic comedy starring Cher and Nick Cage, while Moonlight won the 2016 Best Picture Award and Moonlighting was a popular TV show of the 1980's. Moonshine refers to corn liquor made in the hollows of Appalachia. It was done late at night, under the cover of darkness with only the Moon for illumination, thus the name. Always brings to mind Steve Earle's Copperhead Road song. And speaking of songs, how about Moonriver from Breakfast at Tiffany's and Van Morrison's Moondance. Finally, what parent hasn't lulled their little one to sleep reading the classic Goodnight Moon?
🌕 I'll close with one last memory. In my younger days I spent some time (probably too much time) over at the Oasis, a roadhouse bar near Hedges Lake. When the Moon was bright I'd often go up over Shields Road to take in the view of the Taconics folds and ridges. Then it was down to the 'O' for beer and rock 'n roll. When the band went on break the crowd would empty out into the parking lot to cool off and get some fresh air. Invariably we got something else. A car would drive by on Rt. 22 honking its horn and sticking out the back window would be the bare part of someone's anatomy that should never see the light of day (or the dark of night for that matter). Ah, 'Mooning', idle pastime of a lost generation...
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