2009/04/20

Reflection Entry #3

Before I start describing my past week and the moon observation, I would like to point out that I made a mistake in drawing conclusions too fast. If you remember, I thought I figured out the moon rising and setting behaviour the last week. We had discussions in small groups in our Tuesday class though. And I realized that I did not anticipate different times when the moon rises. Therefore, I think, when the moon rises the next day later than it did a day before, it appears on the sky more towards the east as it has not reached the point from a day before. Now I believe that the moon has more-less exact points of rising and setting, similarly as the sun does. When I think about it, the most rational explanation is that the moon rises on the east and sets on the west because of the way the Earth rotates – from east to west. But before I assure myself for good again, I have to make a few more investigations.

Unfortunately, this third week of observations was purely unsuccessful to me. Either it was cloudy, or it was raining or the sky was clear and I could not see the moon. According to the lunar calendar, the moon has transferred through waning gibbous to last quarter and is less and less visible from a day to a day. The new moon should be on Thursday of this week.

On the other hand, the lack of full moon on the night sky created better conditions for star watching. When the new moon lit as the main night sky object is not there, everything seems a little bit darker. Thus, it is easier to see the full range of stars even from billions of light years away from us. The sky with stars only looks more mysterious to me and I would rather get lost in woods when the full moon was up, shining on my way.

Lastly, I would like to point out my progress on the moon pattern. I looked through different photos of full (or almost full) moons I have taken at various times, and it seems that the side of the moon we see is almost the same all the time. But it rotates! Two examples I had illustrated 90°CCW (or 270°CW) rotation over a period of circa 8 months. I have no idea why though. Before I reach conclusion, however, I feel that more observations are necessary. I do not want to repeat my previous mistake again. Learning with patience always leads to desirable results.

Kamoyvaer near Nordkapp, Norway: 2008/08/18

vs.

Middlebury, VT, USA: 2009/04/10