Re: Super Bright Moon on Dec. 22

TillyLucy@aol.com
Fri, 10 Dec 1999 21:59:19 EST


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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OK Harry, you've got a taker. Someplace familiar, but that doesn't have a
lot of artificial light around? Redwood City?

Dave Kautz
P-15 #1632 Tilly Lucy

In a message dated 12/10/99 9:16:54 AM Pacific Standard Time, hlg@pacbell.net
writes:

<<
On Dec. 22, 1999, watch for a super bright full moon!

This year will be the first full moon to occur on the winter solstice,
Dec. 22, commonly called the first day of winter. Since a full moon on
the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point
in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth).

The moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point
in it's elliptical orbit that is farthest from the Earth) since the
Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun at this time of
the year than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7%
stronger making it brighter. Also, this will be the closest perigee of
the Moon of the year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming.

If the weather is clear and there is a snow cover where you live, it is
believed that even car headlights will be superfluous. On December 21st,
1866 the Lakota Sioux took advantage of this combination of occurrences
and staged a devastating retaliatory ambush on soldiers in the Wyoming
Territory.

In laymen's terms it will be a super bright full moon, much more than
the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years!

Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendants 100 or so years
from now will see this again.

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Weather permitting, a night sail on Dec. 22 might be a memorable experience.

Harry
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA
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