Friday, August 7, 2009

the moon seen round the world

Our world community all shared the same view this week in gazing at the full corn moon, the lunar eclipse, and our bright, shining neighbor Venus. Evoking our inner artists, beautiful photos (including one of a moonflower) and dreamy poetry were created. Please visit the blogs listed below--from east to west--to see how creatively the moon's beauty has been expressed around the world. As for me, each time I followed the moon in her trajectory this week, realizing other people both near and far were experiencing the same thing, I felt a spiritual connection with everyone that energized me, made me happy. I am so grateful to all those who participated; even if you just looked at the moon, somehow we were one. Thank you!

Anasazi ruins in Arizona, NatGeo

Particpants in Operation Moon Watch from east to west

Australia

Delwyn at a hazy moon
Kaela at Kaela's Room

Shropshire Marches, UK
Friko at Friko's Musings

Louisiana, USA
Marion at Dragonfly's Poetry and Prolixity

New Jersey, USA
Margaret at margaretPANpipes

Ontario, Canada
Steven at the golden fish
Michigan, USA
Eric at This Is Eric's Blog.

Missouri, USA
Blues at BluesVox

Northern California, USA
photos by Jessica Wilson

Big Island, Hawaii, USA
photos by Hiko Ito and Jessy Wilson

August is known as the month of the corn moon.

The full moon appeared from August 4-7, 2009, according to this farmer's clock which has proven to be very accurate. This photo was taken at 1:52 pm on Thursday, August 6, 2009.

Venus, earth's planetary twin, resembles a bright evening star shining down on us, accompanying the moon. Photo taken by Margaret, New Jersey, USA.



A pale full moon rises in Northern California, USA.
Photo taken by Jessica Wlison.



Still rising ~ Northern California, USA, Photo by Jessica Wilson.

photo taken by Hiko Ito over Mauna Loa volcano, Big Island, Hawaii, USA.

And so we say, "Goodnight, moon!" :) as she languidly slips into the Pacific Ocean, our circle's furthest point west. Photo taken by Jessy Wilson, Big Island, Hawaii, USA.








11 comments:

  1. Such beautiful pictures, Margaret! Yes, the Moonlady was quite playful with me the other night, but I appreciated the psychedelic moonlight photos she gave me. Great idea!!! Blessings!

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  2. Margaret

    this is a lovely post

    Thanks for encouraging us to perform the 'Margaret Moon Watch' together...

    Dan tells me that the bright star to the right of my moon in Mars and it appears closer now...

    Your moon shot is a great one...the trees cushion it and add contrast...

    Happy days

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  3. A beautiful post and a lovely idea. It more than makes up for my not being able to see the moon at all for the past two nights, in spite of searching the heavens.

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  4. Hi Margaret!! I was unsuccesful taking my photo of the moon the other night because of fog! I did get one or two, but they aren't really blog-worthy, imo! I like how you put the post together!

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  5. Yes, Mars, not Venus... Venus, being closer to the sun than earth can appear only near crescent moons. When the moon is full, it is opposite the sun, so planets that appear neat the full moon are OUTSIDE of us. That's Mars. And it's as bright as you'll ever see it.

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  6. Hi everyone! Thanks for checking back in! This is something interesting and new to me! Dan, I'm following your very well-reasoned argument for that being Mars and not Venus next to the moon. The logic is clear to me. However, here are some thoughts that occurred to me: the moon is in the earth's gravitatonal pull and circles the earth once a month while we're circling the sun everyday, meaning of course that both Hemispheres can see the moon at some point every day. As the planets are orbiting the sun, their coming close to us varies with their own rotation v. ours. They don't orbit the earth, and thus the Southern Hemisphere has different viewings from the Northern Hemisphere. "As seen from New Zealand, Mars rises soon after 4am at the beginning of August and a little before 4am at the end of the month." "Venus, still brilliant in the morning sky, will rise about two and a half hours before the Sun." "On the morning of August 18 a crescent moon will be just to the left of Venus." www.rasnz.org.nz/SolarSys/Aug_09.htm. That's the Southern Hemisphere. The Transient Sky site seems to be from NZ, too. http://transientsky.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/in-the-sky-this-month-august-2009/. I found a Canadian site, from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, which definitely is in the Northern Hemisphere, that says Venus is in the morning sky (morning star, evening star Venus is called?) grouped with fainter Mars and the moon. (Its info automatically scrolls, so I didn't catch it well enough to quote the entire thing.) http://home.comcast.net/~sternmann/cal.htm. I am back to liking Dan's very clear, logical explanation. Dan, is is possible that Delwyn saw Mars, but I saw Venus? (keeping in mind that we both saw a full moon) I happened to see on the scrolling page that Perseid meteor showers peak August 12th. Once again, if this info is from Canada, is that true only for the Northern Hemisphere? Delwyn, you get a better view of the Milky Way, though! I would love to take a coure in astronomy; maybe that's my project for this fall. Something else I learned from the scroll!: The August moon is the Moon When Cherries Are Ripe for the Cheyenne, Blackberry Moon for the Ojibway, and No Snow on the Trail Moon for the Zuni. Thanks, everyone!

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  7. Beautiful post, Margaret! Those photos are all gorgeous. Isn't it fantastic that, despite the vast distances between us, we all see the same sun and moon, and share the same precious planet? It gives me hope!

    I hope you are having a good weekend.

    Hugs,
    Angela

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  8. I love moon watching! It can be a very cold thing to do at this time of year way down here but on a clear night, it is well worth the shivering!

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  9. hello margaret, a beautiful post - i can't believe i missed it!!! the clock is stunning. oh my i'd love to see that one face-to-face!!! have a lovely evening. thanks for hosting this moon piece. steven

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  10. Hi Margaret.....I love the moon's. You did a very nice piece......julie

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  11. Hope alls well at your place. Take care, Amanda

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