charts i'd printed out for the trip that 5:36 AM
was the exact minute that the moon became exactly
full with no shadow from the earth obscuring any
portion of it.
...
as it neared the horizon. i was
sailing the boat directly toward it. then...
behind me through the same water-laden air came the
sun... exactly the same size, also orange, but redder
and brighter. there was nothing but water for a horizon
in front and in back of the boat. here i was sitting on
the "big blue" ball, staring at the yellow-orange ball
in the west and the red-orange ball in the east, both
sitting just above the ocean horizon casting a glow across
the water running directly toward the boat and toward me.
A little celestial mechanics. On a two dimensional diagram at the exact time, of full moon, the three bodies Earth, Moon and Sun would all be along one line. But because the Moon’s orbital plane is inclined to the ecliptic (the Earth’s orbital plane), in a three dimensional diagram the Moon (usually) passes slightly above or below the Sun-Earth line, and hence the Earth’s shadow (i.e. no eclipse).
Hence. if you consider the three points, the center of the Sun, the center of the Moon and the Dust, then the Dust is not quite aligned<g>, but close, very close. So, if you think about it, the Moon should be in the opposite part of the sky from the Sun. As the Moon sets the Sun should rise. Half way through the process, the Moon should be half set, and the Sun also bisected. But that isn’t what happens. The Earth’s atmosphere refracts (bends) light. When you “see” a celestial object “sitting” on the horizon, it is really below the horizon. Thus, your ethereal experience.
<aside> I sometimes wonder what’s going on inside the head of a geologist, when staring at a spectacular western landscape. It doesn’t subtract.</aside>
Envious.
lurqer |
