Philosophy
"Video: Year of Moon Motion in 2.5 Minutes"
by
Alice Vincent
June 15th, 2011
Wired UK
Many claim to see a man in the moon, but now an animation has been made that showcases a year’s worth of moon movements in less than three minutes.
Topographical data is gathered from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, aka LOLA, which is aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO — a robotic scout that is gathering information about the moon from 50 kilometers [31 miles] above its surface.
LOLA has been measuring the the surface slopes, roughness and brightness of the moon. By taking this information, the folks at the Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio have compiled the moon’s appearance over the course of 2011 into the video above.
Although we only see one side of the moon, as the video shows, this side appears different throughout the year because of the moon’s orbit and the tilt of its axis. Sped up in the video, these appear to cause the moon to wobble, known as libration. It’s also pretty cool to see the monthly phases of the moon’s cycle in such detail and at such speed.
- Wac's Topographical Moon Map
NASA... Global topography -- a boon to lunar scientists and explorers around the world! Today the LROC team releases Version 1 of the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) topographic map of the Moon. This amazing map shows you the ups and downs over nearly the entire...
- Moondogs
An interesting Moon phenomena. Wikipedia... A moon dog or moondog [scientific name paraselene, plural paraselenae, i.e. "beside the moon"] is a relatively rare bright circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal-plate-shaped...
- 14% Wider And 30% Brighter...our Moon Tomorrow Night
FULL MOON...AND MARS Friday night's full Moon is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year. It's a "perigee Moon," as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than other full Moons you'll see later in 2010. But that's not all. Mars is...
- A "blue Moon" On December 31st...literally
This is truly a rare occasion for on December 31st there will really be a "blue moon". "A Blue Moon For New Year's Eve" by Dave Reneke December 22nd, 2009 Moon Daily When you hear someone say "Once in a Blue Moon " you know what they mean. They're...
- Blue Moon
In all these years I cannot recall seeing a "blue moon". Of course the moon is not really blue, but it can adorn the appearance of blueness [and other colors]--all based on the particulate matter dispersed in the atmosphere such as volcanic eruptions...
Philosophy
Moon gets 2.5 minutes of fame on YouTube
"Video: Year of Moon Motion in 2.5 Minutes"
by
Alice Vincent
June 15th, 2011
Wired UK
Many claim to see a man in the moon, but now an animation has been made that showcases a year’s worth of moon movements in less than three minutes.
Topographical data is gathered from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, aka LOLA, which is aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO — a robotic scout that is gathering information about the moon from 50 kilometers [31 miles] above its surface.
LOLA has been measuring the the surface slopes, roughness and brightness of the moon. By taking this information, the folks at the Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio have compiled the moon’s appearance over the course of 2011 into the video above.
Although we only see one side of the moon, as the video shows, this side appears different throughout the year because of the moon’s orbit and the tilt of its axis. Sped up in the video, these appear to cause the moon to wobble, known as libration. It’s also pretty cool to see the monthly phases of the moon’s cycle in such detail and at such speed.
- Wac's Topographical Moon Map
NASA... Global topography -- a boon to lunar scientists and explorers around the world! Today the LROC team releases Version 1 of the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) topographic map of the Moon. This amazing map shows you the ups and downs over nearly the entire...
- Moondogs
An interesting Moon phenomena. Wikipedia... A moon dog or moondog [scientific name paraselene, plural paraselenae, i.e. "beside the moon"] is a relatively rare bright circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal-plate-shaped...
- 14% Wider And 30% Brighter...our Moon Tomorrow Night
FULL MOON...AND MARS Friday night's full Moon is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year. It's a "perigee Moon," as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than other full Moons you'll see later in 2010. But that's not all. Mars is...
- A "blue Moon" On December 31st...literally
This is truly a rare occasion for on December 31st there will really be a "blue moon". "A Blue Moon For New Year's Eve" by Dave Reneke December 22nd, 2009 Moon Daily When you hear someone say "Once in a Blue Moon " you know what they mean. They're...
- Blue Moon
In all these years I cannot recall seeing a "blue moon". Of course the moon is not really blue, but it can adorn the appearance of blueness [and other colors]--all based on the particulate matter dispersed in the atmosphere such as volcanic eruptions...