Why did the fullmoon so bright last night?

I missed the news from NASA to explain super brightness of the fullmoon last night. Ancient people discovered this 4-5 thousand years ago.

Uno wrote:
I missed the news from NASA to explain super brightness of the fullmoon
last night. Ancient people discovered this 4-5 thousand years ago.

I don't think anyone, NASA included, was claiming something unusual
about the Moon last night. It was mentioned in one news release that
the Moon would be full near time a perigee, which would make it a little
closer than its average distance, and thus a little brighter. But I
don't think it was in the guise of a "new discovery". It was
informational for the majority of folks that don't bother getting
outside to experience the night sky, stuck instead in front of the TV or
computer gaming.

It wasn't really any brighter than most other full moons, I had my scope out
at the corner and watched it as it went up. Tonight was just as bright too.


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html


"Scott Miller" wrote in message
...
Uno wrote:
I missed the news from NASA to explain super brightness of the fullmoon
last night. Ancient people discovered this 4-5 thousand years ago.

I don't think anyone, NASA included, was claiming something unusual about
the Moon last night. It was mentioned in one news release that the Moon
would be full near time a perigee, which would make it a little closer
than its average distance, and thus a little brighter. But I don't think
it was in the guise of a "new discovery". It was informational for the
majority of folks that don't bother getting outside to experience the
night sky, stuck instead in front of the TV or computer gaming.

"Uno" wrote in message . net...
I missed the news from NASA to explain super brightness of the fullmoon last night. Ancient people discovered this 4-5 thousand years ago.
I also watched the moon Saturday night and it seemed brighter than normal, but that was probably because it had rained the two previous days and the air was clean.

However, riding to work on Friday morning I saw the Moon setting in the west, about 6:30am and it was quite a sight; it appeared three times its normal size and had a dark-reddish tint, almost as one would expect Mars to appear, at close range. I am sure the amplification effect was caused by atmospheric lensing.

In article ,
"Hagar" wrote:

[...] riding to work on Friday morning I saw the Moon setting in the west,
about 6:30am and it was quite a sight; it appeared three times its normal
size and had a dark-reddish tint, almost as one would expect Mars to appear,
at close range. I am sure the amplification effect was caused by atmospheric
lensing.

If by "amplification" you mean its great apparent size, that's not due
to the atmosphere, but to a well-known perceptual illusion. Images of an
object near the horizon actually get compressed by atmospheric
refraction, quite the opposite of what our visual sense tells us.

--
Odysseus

Scott Miller wrote:
Uno wrote:
I missed the news from NASA to explain super brightness of the fullmoon
last night. Ancient people discovered this 4-5 thousand years ago.

I don't think anyone, NASA included, was claiming something unusual
about the Moon last night. It was mentioned in one news release that
the Moon would be full near time a perigee, which would make it a little
closer than its average distance, and thus a little brighter. But I
don't think it was in the guise of a "new discovery". It was
informational for the majority of folks that don't bother getting
outside to experience the night sky, stuck instead in front of the TV or
computer gaming.

Nasa are dumb guy's if they can't explain that moon was close to the
Earth shadow (the eye of Horus) ... which means that the Moon faced the
sun... Why the moon was so bright...

"according to the belief and account of the Egyptians, eTyphon(socalled
by the ancients) at one time smites the eye of Horus, and at another
time snatches it out and swallows it, and then later gives it back
again to the Sun. By the smiting, they refer allegorically to the
monthly waning of the moon, and by the crippling, to its eclipse, which
the Sun heals by shining straight upon it as soon as it has escaped the
shadow of the earth."

The Myth & Legend of Thoth and The Book of Thoth

Thoth is one of the most complex Egyptian deities. According to
classical belief it was Thoth who brought the idea of creation into
existence by uttering the thoughts of the creator; Ptah then put those
spoken words into effect. The ancient Egyptians considered Thoth to be
the mind behind cosmic order, the architect of the universe. Thoth was
the principal deity of the city of Hermopolis (the City of Hermes) or
Khemnu as the Egyptians called it. According to Egyptian legend, the
temple of Hermopolis housed fragments of the cosmic egg (CometH) that
Thoth himself as the divine Ibis, had hatched on the Island of
creation, from the egg the first sun had risen.

Thoth's association with the creation myth also extends to the divine
birth of the pharaohs themselves. Thoth was said to lead Amun the king
of gods to the bedchamber of the waiting queen.

Thoth was not only associated with the creation of the physical world,
as the originator of the written word in the form of hieroglyphs, he is
also credited with the authorship of The Book of the Dead (The Book of
am Tuat). The Book of the dead is a book of spells, prayers and rituals
that would assist the dead on their journey to the afterlife. According
to Egyptian understanding the deceased person would be judged by a
panel of 42 assessors of the dead, which corresponded with the 42
administrative areas that Egypt was divided into. From this originates
the legend of the 42 Books of Thoth.

Hieroglyphs, the language of the gods.

Thoth's most recognisable association is that of the god of writing,
as such he is often depicted as a man with the head of an Ibis, holding
a writing stylus and an ankh. Ra was said to have appointed Thoth
'scribe of the Ennead' before he retreated from the Earth knowing
that Thoth's wisdom would allow him to serve as humanities teacher
and guardian. It was Thoth who was appointed to keep the affairs of
humanity in order. The written word was an essential tool for
organising and administering the government of Egypt bringing order and
structure to a vast country. It has been estimated that contrary to
popular belief, only around one percent of the Egyptian population was
literate, most of these being priests, members of the ruling classes
and scribes. Scribes, (sesh) were known as followers of Thoth and held
a unique and respected position because of their skills and the
connection with the words of the gods that those skills provided.

Hieroglyphs were known as 'medu neter', which translates as
'words of the gods'. When temple priests carried out services in
the temples and read from the temples texts they were thought to be
reading and speaking the magical and divine words of the Gods
themselves.

Whether in spoken or written form the words contained in these texts
were considered so sacred and so powerful that as a precaution, certain
hieroglyphs were actually inscribed in two separate halves to diminish
their power, which was considered highly potent and capable of causing
havoc if activated by mistake. Priests also conducted magical rituals
to activate the divine power that their texts contained.

The influence of the mythology enshrined in the written word was such
that over time developed into the legend of The Book of Thoth.
According to both esoteric and occult legend, the book of Thoth was
said to be the repository for the greater Egyptian mysteries. This was
said to be a book of magic that was so powerful that one single spell
that it contained it would give the person that spoke it access to all
knowledge beyond book learned knowledge and to wisdom of Thoth himself.
Legend has it that the Book of Thoth was hidden in an ancient tomb in
Sakkara, in Northern Egypt.

The many facets of Thoth

Besides being the god who introduced writing to the world, Thoth has
multiple other associations and is depicted in a variety of ways
sometimes he is shown as an ibis other times, a baboon or as a dog
headed ape wearing the combined lunar disc and crescent above his head.

Thoth's many roles include being the Egyptian God of the moon,
calendars, chronology, the spoken word, writing, magick and knowledge
and measurer of time (the latter being due to the fact that he rode
with Ra in the solar boat). Thoth also goes by several aliases
including Thot, Tehuti, and Djehuti. He is also known as Hermes
Trismegistus or 'Thrice Great' the Trismegistus title seems to
originate from the fact that the Egyptians knew him as Thoth, the
Greeks called him Hermes and finally the Romans named him Mercury. The
Thrice great association also links in to the fact that there are three
pyramids on the Giza plateau and certain esoteric texts such as the
Alchemy of the Soul refer to three temples of knowledge.

The Roman version of Thoth, Mercury, the god of thought was somewhat
androgynous in nature. A symbol of magic and intelligence Mercury was
associated with quick silver, the element mercury and the planet
closest to the sun. Mercury is one of the three principals of alchemy.

The magickal association of Thoth extends into his title of Hermes
Trismegistos, in fact the term Hermeticism (the magical, astrological
and alchemical doctrines derived from Egyptian and Hebrew sources)
originates from this association. As Hermes Trismegistos he was the
legendary author of various treatises including the Emerald tablets and
originator of the Hermetic axiom 'As above so below'. Hermes
Trismegistos was said to be the first alchemist.

Thoth and the Moon

Thoth's association with the moon originates from the myth that
recounts how he enabled Nut to give birth to her five children (Isis,
Osiris, Set, Horus the elder and Nephreys) by using his cunning to win
a game of draughts with the moon. By winning a seventy second part of
the moons light, he managed to create five extra days (the Epagomenal
days), which allowed Nut to give birth to her five children without
breaking Ra's decree that her children could not be born on any
existing calendar day. This myth more than any other is responsible for
Thoth's role as a lunar deity.

Further evidence of Thoth's role as a lunar deity can be seen through
Thoth's connection with the eye of Horus. In mythology the eyes of
Horus were said to represent the sun and moon. The left eye, which was
damaged in battle was said to explain why the moon was dimmer than the
sun. The eye of Horus was also a powerful magical talisman and
contained within it a complex system of measurement, which again links
back to Thoth in his capacity of measurer of the earth

It was Thoth who restored "the head of Isis" another "lunar deity and
magician", when an enraged Horus had decapitated his mother. It was
also Thoth who helped Isis when her beloved Osiris had been murdered by
their jealous brother, Set, enabling her to resurrect her dismembered
husband and impregnate herself, thus ensuring he had an heir. Osiris
then became Lord of the underworld.

According to some versions of Egyptian mythology, after the final
battle between Horus and Set over Osiris's throne, it was Thoth who
wrote to Osiris then Lord of the Underworld and asked him to intervene
in the final judgment of the Ennead (the eight founding gods) and find
in favour of Horus' claim to the throne of Egypt.

Brightness... of an ancient Moon Walker... who made it to the moon...

Warhol wrote:
Scott Miller wrote:

Uno wrote:

I missed the news from NASA to explain super brightness of the fullmoon
last night. Ancient people discovered this 4-5 thousand years ago.

I don't think anyone, NASA included, was claiming something unusual
about the Moon last night. It was mentioned in one news release that
the Moon would be full near time a perigee, which would make it a little
closer than its average distance, and thus a little brighter. But I
don't think it was in the guise of a "new discovery". It was
informational for the majority of folks that don't bother getting
outside to experience the night sky, stuck instead in front of the TV or
computer gaming.


Nasa are dumb guy's if they can't explain that moon was close to the
Earth shadow (the eye of Horus) ... which means that the Moon faced the
sun... Why the moon was so bright...

"according to the belief and account of the Egyptians, eTyphon(socalled
by the ancients) at one time smites the eye of Horus, and at another
time snatches it out and swallows it, and then later gives it back
again to the Sun. By the smiting, they refer allegorically to the
monthly waning of the moon, and by the crippling, to its eclipse, which
the Sun heals by shining straight upon it as soon as it has escaped the
shadow of the earth."

[rest of mindless drivel deleted for brevity]

Thanks for wasting our time, again. I did not say NASA did not explain
it (they actually did in the release I saw). I said that a report from
a NASA news source simply pointed out something to those who do not get
out and might want to see the phenomenon. It wasn't unusual to those of
us that observe regularly, but might be to those minions that do not.

"Odysseus" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"Hagar" wrote:

[...] riding to work on Friday morning I saw the Moon setting in the
west,
about 6:30am and it was quite a sight; it appeared three times its
normal
size and had a dark-reddish tint, almost as one would expect Mars to
appear,
at close range. I am sure the amplification effect was caused by
atmospheric
lensing.

If by "amplification" you mean its great apparent size, that's not due
to the atmosphere, but to a well-known perceptual illusion. Images of an
object near the horizon actually get compressed by atmospheric
refraction, quite the opposite of what our visual sense tells us.

--
Odysseus

OK, one more time: The ****ing Moon looked 2.5 times its normal size. It
was also bathed in a burnt orange like color. No, it is not an illusion,
because I have watched the Sun set in the Pacific ocean, displaying
identical traits. The additional "ether" one has to look through when
eyeing a visual path parallel to the Earth's surface must act like a lens,
making the Sun and the Moon appear larger, as they approach the horizon.

So, you can either explain in detail the mystery of your "well-known
perceptual illusion", or shut up, because it sounds like gibberish to me.

"Hagar" wrote in message
...

"Odysseus" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"Hagar" wrote:

[...] riding to work on Friday morning I saw the Moon setting in the
west,
about 6:30am and it was quite a sight; it appeared three times its
normal
size and had a dark-reddish tint, almost as one would expect Mars to
appear,
at close range. I am sure the amplification effect was caused by
atmospheric
lensing.

If by "amplification" you mean its great apparent size, that's not due
to the atmosphere, but to a well-known perceptual illusion. Images of
an
object near the horizon actually get compressed by atmospheric
refraction, quite the opposite of what our visual sense tells us.

--
Odysseus

OK, one more time: The ****ing Moon looked 2.5 times its normal size.
It was also bathed in a burnt orange like color. No, it is not an
illusion, because I have watched the Sun set in the Pacific ocean,
displaying identical traits. The additional "ether" one has to look
through when eyeing a visual path parallel to the Earth's surface must
act like a lens, making the Sun and the Moon appear larger, as they
approach the horizon.
Actually, the optical effects, make it look slightly smaller!....
However the way our 'brains' work, make it look a lot larger.
The only way to really get an idea of the size of the Moon at any time,
when just looking at it, is to 'override' the effect, hold your arm out,
and compare the actual size with (say) the size of the end of your thumb
at arms length. This gives you a reasonably 'constant' reference, and you
may well be suprised at what you find!...

So, you can either explain in detail the mystery of your "well-known
perceptual illusion", or shut up, because it sounds like gibberish to
me.
The illusion, is because there is a system in our visual processing, which
stops people/houses etc., from looking as small as they really are, when a
long way away. Effectively the visual processing in your head, says 'this
is a long way away, make it look bigger'. It tends only to come into
force, when something is low enough in the sky, that your brain starts
thinking 'this is near the horizon'.

Best Wishes

"Roger Hamlett" wrote in message
...

"Hagar" wrote in message
...

"Odysseus" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"Hagar" wrote:

[...] riding to work on Friday morning I saw the Moon setting in the
west,
about 6:30am and it was quite a sight; it appeared three times its
normal
size and had a dark-reddish tint, almost as one would expect Mars to
appear,
at close range. I am sure the amplification effect was caused by
atmospheric
lensing.

If by "amplification" you mean its great apparent size, that's not due
to the atmosphere, but to a well-known perceptual illusion. Images of an
object near the horizon actually get compressed by atmospheric
refraction, quite the opposite of what our visual sense tells us.

--
Odysseus

OK, one more time: The ****ing Moon looked 2.5 times its normal size. It
was also bathed in a burnt orange like color. No, it is not an illusion,
because I have watched the Sun set in the Pacific ocean, displaying
identical traits. The additional "ether" one has to look through when
eyeing a visual path parallel to the Earth's surface must act like a
lens, making the Sun and the Moon appear larger, as they approach the
horizon.
Actually, the optical effects, make it look slightly smaller!....
However the way our 'brains' work, make it look a lot larger.
The only way to really get an idea of the size of the Moon at any time,
when just looking at it, is to 'override' the effect, hold your arm out,
and compare the actual size with (say) the size of the end of your thumb
at arms length. This gives you a reasonably 'constant' reference, and you
may well be suprised at what you find!...

So, you can either explain in detail the mystery of your "well-known
perceptual illusion", or shut up, because it sounds like gibberish to me.
The illusion, is because there is a system in our visual processing, which
stops people/houses etc., from looking as small as they really are, when a
long way away. Effectively the visual processing in your head, says 'this
is a long way away, make it look bigger'. It tends only to come into
force, when something is low enough in the sky, that your brain starts
thinking 'this is near the horizon'.

Best Wishes

So, all the pictures of Pacific sunsets, where there is nothing bat water,
showing a larger than normal disk of good old Sol, are taken by cameras
whose film has been fooled by an optical illusion ??