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Name:Gas Myth
IMO:9507726
Flag:Liberia
MMSI:636015105
Callsign:A8YP9
Vessel type:LPG Tanker
Gross tonnage:4,312 tons
Summer DWT:5,004 tons
Home port:Monrovia
Class society:American Bureau Of Shipping
Build year:2011
Builder: KANREI SHIPBUILDING - SANMU, JAPAN
"All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain."
Moon Moods | Myth Busting, Rolling and Lunistice
Topics Covered:
a) Moon Size near Horizon, b) Moon Size vs Orbital Distance, c) Moon Rolling and iv) Major Lunar Standstill.
Popular belief suggests that, when near the horizon, the rising (and setting) moon appear to be larger compare to same at higher elevations in the sky. Here, I am about to show that this perception is not borne out by facts, but also counter-intuitively demonstrate that the moon can instead appear smaller as it rises above the horizon.
Case in point, are pictures taken with a fix magnification 500 mm prime lens during the evening of 16 October, 2024, the day before the official harvest (full) moon shown in composite image of Figure 1. The just risen moon had a horizontal diameter identical to that of the moon at near its maximum elevation (49° vs max of 53°). However, the moon near the horizon appeared flattened on its vertical axis; its projection compressed by conditions such as atmospheric refraction and temperature inversion. The degree of the optical phenomenon quickly diminished and eventually vanished as the moon rose up in the sky. In spite of the unbiased camera sensor showing the illuminated face of the moon appearing somewhat smaller near the horizon, most observers would perceive the moon as being bigger as a result of human’s brain misinterpreting the relative proportions of the moon when the field of view includes foreground land features. Notwithstanding atmospheric distortions, the apparent moon size is not magnified by the passage of its light through the atmosphere just above the horizon. Myth Busted!
FIGURE 2 shows that the size of the moon in our sky does change as it travels on its 28-day elliptical orbit around earth. For example, on 16 October, earth natural satellite was a super moon, so called because it approached its nearest point to earth (Peregee) and appeared 14% larger than the Waxing Gibbous moon near its outer limit (Apogee) on 24 March. But this change in moon size does not take place overnight and was not the cause of the full moon perceived (but not measured) as being larger near the horizon on 16 October.
The moon is tidally locked with earth in that it is on a synchronous orbit (i.e. one moon rotation per period around earth), hence why we always see the same face of the moon notwithstanding some minor wobbling throughout its monthly orbit around earth. Nonetheless, as shown in FIGURE 3, the moon rolled clockwise by 21.3° while traveling for 4.75 hour through the night sky on 16 October. Indeed, data from www.timeanddate.com showed that between its rise and set time spanning 13.5 h, the moon rolled 92° (i.e., by a quarter). By comparison, on 16-17 October, the city of Quito located on the equator in South America, saw the moon rolled 180° in the 12 hours between moonrise and moonset. Given that Kingston is located at 44°N latitude, a simple back of the envelop calculation [ 180*((90-44)/90)=92 ] indicates that the degree of moon roll is associated to the observer’s latitude location on earth’s surface. In fact, however, the moon does not roll at all. The phenomenon is strictly related to the observer’s (including camera) perspective changing relative to the moon as the earth turns. I wish there was a term used to describe this specific optical illusion, but I found none.
Last but not least, we have entered a Major Lunar Standstill (aka, Lunistice) which occurs every 18.6 years in the lunar cycle, each two years in duration, with this particular one lasting through the end of 2025. During this time, and for each 28-day lunar cycle, the moon rises (and sets) at its most extreme northerly and southerly positions on the horizon and anywhere in between. In the case of Kingston, Ontario, FIGURE 4, one standing on the western end on the Waaban bridge may see the moon, full or otherwise, rise up from the horizon anywhere from 48°NE to 132°SE (i.e., ± 42° from due East). So, saying that the moon rises from the east is very imprecise at this time. The overhead view of Kingston in FIGURE 5, shows that if standing on the west shore of the Inner Harbour between Molly Brant Point and Doug Fluhrer Park, one may expect to see the moon rise from a wide range of directions covering the entire 84° range shown. A more typical range would be around 54° (± 27° from due East). Simply put, the wider range of moonrise directions arising from this Major Lunar Standstill offers an equally wider range of opportunities to observe and photograph our natural satellite with land-based natural or man-made features that necessarily would not be available for more normal moon cycles.
There is an awful lot of misinformation and misconceptions about what a bra does and doesn't do! we at clovia decided to bust some of the many common bra myths for you. www.clovia.com/bra-myths-busted/