Results tagged “moon”

Twice a year, as the vernal and autumnal equinoxes come upon us, nightwatchers in the D.C. area get a special treat when the full Moon's orbit brings it up behind the Capitol building, in line with the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Iwo Jima Memorial. Usually this occasion occurs in concert with the Harvest Moon, the name of the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox, which happens on September 22 this year; however, this time around, the closest full Moon actually occurs after the equinox. Nevertheless, it's September's Moon that gives us the spectacular line up, so this year our photographers met up near the Washington Monument last night to view the Corn Moon rise behind the Capitol. Check out the gallery above for their spectacular shots. Although the official full Moon was Friday, you should still get a pretty great view tonight, -- you might consider the Mall if you were looking for a romantic moon-lit walk with your partner.

Did you look up last Wednesday and Thursday to see two of the brightest objects in the sky -- the Moon and Jupiter -- trek ever so close to each other? It's tough to say that maxedaperture's photo above doesn't really do it justice (because it sure as hell does the Moon itself justice), but the real view was so bright to make even non-fans of astronomy look up and, as a friend told me later, make him nearly run his car into a ditch. (Please practice safe sky viewing and pull over!)

Forty years ago next month, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the Moon. The National Air and Space Museum is celebrating Apollo 11's historic journey throughout July, with book signings, presentations by experts on the Saturn V rocket, the Lunar Module, and even one on the "so-called Moon-landing hoax." The capstone lecture featuring the entire Apollo 11 crew and Mission Control creator Chris Kraft sold-out instantly through a free lottery last month, unfortunately.

We mentioned last week that the two brightest planets in our sky would soon converge together with the crescent Moon in the early evening, making their final swoop towards each other tonight. Flickr user (and our reliable astro-photographer) philliefan99 took this image on Saturday night, when they were still fairly far apart, but knowing the rain would make it tough to photograph on Sunday. We're looking at partly to very cloudy skies tonight, but try to scope them out anyway. If it's clear, the three will be visible just after sunset -- as you can tell from the photo above -- so look up while you're leaving the office today. Venus, Jupiter and the Moon will be huddled in the southwestern sky near the horizon and will be so close that you can cover all three with your thumb at arms length. Enjoy the show!

Washington saw a particularly beautiful full vernal moon, better known as the Full Worm Moon, on Thursday, and a number of our Flickr contributors added their best shots of it to the DCist Pool. Here's what the Farmers' Almanac has to say about the Full Worm Moon:

As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

Neat. And all well and good, except the temperature outside still feels rather wintery to us, even during the day. Take comfort, though. Jason Samenow says that "Friday should be mostly sunny and delightful with highs temperatures in the mid 60s." Hurrah!