Educational Telecommunications CECS 5400 Millennium Full Moon

Greetings all, FYIF. :)

Day before full moon, said to be brightest in 133 years.
1.4 Mile west of Sanger, TX, outside in yard with no street lights in neighborhood, Roughly 33 degrees North, 97 West.
Clear sky, 9:30 pm, moon high.
(RealAudio)

Special Feastures:
1. Shadows very dark and sharp, much like a street ight shadow; my own
shadow is very crisp, all the trees have moon shadows when I walk down the
road.
2. Need to squint to look at moon features.
3. Can sight rifle if looking at light object, but not if looking at dark
object.
4. Can read Go Dog Go by moonlight (PD. Eastman).
5. Can read Happy Birthday book by Dr. Seuss by moonlight.
6. Cannot read paperback version of Dune by moonlight.
7. Can see all the features of the neighbors houses and vehicles by moonlight.
8. Moonlight reflects off beer bottles, aluminum can in ditch.

Is it imagination or real?

Seems pretty real.
Gerald

Merry Christmas! :)

FYIF! I thought this was pretty neat.

December 22, 1999 8-9:30 pm. at E. Knezek Farm in Seymour Texas.
(Real Audio)

Security light outside was turned off, none other for half mile around.

Went for a ride in golf cart down dirt road, son Nick was driving.

Moon was about 40-50 degrees above the horizon, there was no other light.

Observations:

1. Could easily read watch

2. Can see colors clearly, like:

Yellow on cable warning sign when driving down road in golf cart

Red on Danger sign on pump electrical post

Light blue of my Dad's pickup when pulling into the driveway.

3. Have no worry about objects on the road, very clear line of vision.

4. My shadows is really dark and the edges are crisp.

RealAudio of earlier reading session outside by Nick is attached.

:)
Gerald

Epilogue:  I went back out on the road to my Dad's farm at midnight on December 22 with the ISTE NETS Project book and was amazed that I could clearly make out the color shading on the pages as well as read the print. I do not recall ever seeing vivid colors from the light of the moon.  This must have been bright enough to trigger the rods/cones crossover in my retinas.  Also, my Mom told me the next morning she got up three times the night before because she thought the sun was beginning to rise in her south/east bedroom windows, but it was just the moonshine.  That led to a story my Dad told my 10 year old son about when my Dad was 13 or 14 (1927 he thought) when there was a full eclipse of the sun at Megargel that took
place about 3 in the afternoon, He said it got almost dark, the wind stopped blowing, and the chickens all went to roost.  Then, after breakfast, when we went to feed the cows in the pasture at about 8 am Nick and I were watching the moon set, and I told him I did not recognize the mountains. Then Nick said, "look, the easter bunny is upside down!"  Talk about a teachable moment when were were freezing in the back of the truck and tossing out bales. I never thought about us looking at the moon upside down when it sets. Neat! GAK

Delivered-To: gknezek@tenet.edu
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 22:00:30 -0600 (CST)
Mime-Version: 1.0
To: gknezek@tenet.edu
From: Rhonda Christensen <rhondac@new-murphey.tenet.edu>
Subject: [Fwd: Defending the "moon bubbles"!]

Delivered-To: rhondac@new-murphey.tenet.edu
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 16:11:14 -0600
From: Jennifer Smolka <jennifer@smolka.net>

To: Rhonda Christensen <rhondac@new-murphey.tenet.edu>
Subject: Defending the "moon bubbles"!

jeanne snyder wrote:

Hello Everyone,

Regarding the moon article: I did call the source, and verified the information via a news station before I posted the original message. So, I can only say, I will be watching on Dec 22 to see for myself. As for the "email legends" to seek confirmation, I called a group of real world news (pulling it from a wire service) people that I thought had done their homework, and as it turns out they did!

I did some electronic research to find out for myself, and found LOTS of stuff to support BOTH sides of this argument, because no one scientist ever agrees - that is why it is called science!

SINCE 1793, when The Old Farmer's Almanac (FA) began tracking heavenly events and seasonal changes, the Moon has been full on the first day of winter just nine times. This year, 1999, marks the first time it has happened since 1980. But we have to go back 133 years, to 1866, to match this year's rare gathering of winter solstice, full Moon, and lunar perigee (the point in the Moon's orbit that is closest to Earth)..."* http://www.almanac.com/preview2000/lunar.html. Many good sources regarding the article!

However in another article written by Sky Publishing Corp** (Scan down to the article "Brightest Moon in 133 Years?") located at http://www.skypub.com/news/news.shtml.  It disagrees regarding the brightness, and closeness of the moon, but agrees that something special will happen on December 22.  The Sky Publishing's article (with lots of great links) is a wonderful resource regarding the confusion surrounding the bright moon.

 In support of my GTE/CMomS loopers and myself, the original e-mail stated that the moon would appear bigger and brighter, and we added a JOKE regarding "moon screen" (we all need to laugh more). So, I guess we are all Farmers - we love to laugh, and agree with the Old Farmer's Almanac!

The scientist say NO!, and the farmers say YES.  So, based on my years of being an Indiana Hoosier that has followed the Farmers Almanac my whole life! I will be watching to see who is right! However, it is up to you to judge for yourself. Nevertheless, the farmers have never let me down, and I never make long term plans based on a weather report!
(another joke, or is it?)

Hope the global Astronomers will be taking measurements for their records, and also broadcasting a video via the Internet for us to see.  SO! since I was not alive during many of the past wonders, and now that technology is able to be broadcast around the world via the Internet.  I might not be watching the sky, but my computer to see this amazing
occurrence.  So, I hope the Astronomers around the world will share their "eyes" with us.  Nevertheless, I will sneak outside (in the early morning and evening) to see the mystery myself - I am a farm girl by heart!! (smile)

Hope this helps everyone learn for themselves, and make up their own minds!  This is what is so great about science and education!!! I love it!!!

My question final question: If the moon is brighter on December 22, does that mean the Man on the Moon has turned on his Christmas lights?, and we are all wrong? (Big Cat Smile)

Merry Christmas!, and have a BRIGHT holiday season and please smile!

Jeanne Snyder
 ________________________________

Sources:

* Mark your calendar for the final full Moon of the millennium -- a last hurrah of unusual brightness. by Randy Miller (But we all know 2000 IS not the new millennium Randy!) But for the moon! I am supporting the farmers.

**  Wednesday, December 15, Brightest Moon in 133 Years?, 1999 Sky Publishing Corp

*************************************************8

 Deborah Pedersen wrote:

Not to burst any "moon bubbles" BUT... I contacted Dr. Lee Shapiro, Director of the Morehead Planetarium here at the University of North Carolina, concerning all of the email that I had received about the bright moon for Dec 22. Dr. Shapiro informed me that his professionals had indeed been swamped with questions about this.  Seems that the facts being circulated are accurate.  However the moon will not appear any brighter to the naked eye due to the very high orbit of the moon in the winter.  There are some other celestial things going on in January which will cause a much brighter moon in January, 2000.

I've learned with these "email legends" to seek confirmation.  First I look on the web, then when I could find no corroboration I did exactly what I would hope my students would do.  I called a known expert.

Deborah Pedersen
Information Resource Specialist
deborahp@email.unc.edu
LEARN NC
919-843-9920
 http://www.learnnc.org

 --
Jeanne Snyder
Founder, Managing Director
 Cyber Mom Society, CMomS
jean@ashder.com
972-539-8693
http://www.missnetty.com

We "CMomS" for everything else - Why not Technology!

Delivered-To: gknezek@tenet.edu
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Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 14:23:33 -0500
To: chubbers@dartmouth.edu
From: David Kotz <dfk@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Subject: A Whale of a Full Moon

Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:06:41 -0600
From: NASA Science News <expressnews@sslab.msfc.nasa.gov>

NASA Space Science News for Dec. 19, 1999

A Whale of a Full Moon: A bigger, brighter full moon will herald the beginning of northern winter on Dec. 22, 1999 as lunar perigee, the winter solstice, and the full moon all happen within a 10 hour period. FULL STORY at

http://www.spacescience.com/newhome/headlines/ast19dec99_1.htm

The article has a very cool moon-phase image.

dave

-- David Kotz, Dartmouth College --
dfk@cs.dartmouth.edu <http://www.cs