Meteor shower, tonight 12/8/09

[Cloud]

But of course it would take a hardy person to lay on their lawn in mid winter.

Does standing around in a field behind a reservoir in deepest Nottinghamshire count? Feet were absolutely frozen. I think we were watching the Orionids (October 21) at the time. The sensible ones among us had sun-loungers and sleeping bags.

Quite a few local amateur astronomy groups arrange public meetings to watch meteor showers. They well worth going along to, as they usually bring telescopes and know where to look so it's not just the meteors you get to see. I was hooked at an early age by being shown the moons of Jupitor (which can be see with just binoculars) and the Andromeda galaxy (which is visible to the naked eye if its dark enough and you know where to look). (Word of warning: When talking to an astronomer be careful not to confuse the subject with astrology).

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Also had a beautiful harvest moon, so a very red/orange sky

Not strictly true I'm afraid, the Harvest Moon is not for another 2 months, then followed by Hunter's Moon.

Sorry just going by what the old guy standing in the field taking photos of it said it was, so what does a harvest moon look like so I can point it out to the boys then? I know the plough and thats about it!

Sarahx

[KathyLauren]

Also had a beautiful harvest moon, so a very red/orange sky

Not strictly true I'm afraid, the Harvest Moon is not for another 2 months, then followed by Hunter's Moon.

Sorry just going by what the old guy standing in the field taking photos of it said it was, so what does a harvest moon look like so I can point it out to the boys then? I know the plough and thats about it!

Sarahx

The Harvest Moon is the full moon in September. Hunter's Moon is the full moon in October. At least that's what I was taught. But Odsox says not for two months, so apparently there are different views on this.

[Millymollymandy]

I had to look it up as I know nothing at all about this subject!

The Harvest Moon is said to come before or after the autumnal equinox. It is simply the full moon closest to that equinox. About once every four years it occurs in October (in the northern hemisphere), depending on the cycles of the moon. Currently, the latest the Harvest Moon can occur is on October 13. Between 1900 and 2010 the Harvest Moon falls on October 7 in 1930, 1949, 1987, 2006, and on October 8 in 1911.

From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_moon


http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_is_the_h ... on_in_2009
Harvest Moon in 2009 is on October 4th

[Odsox]

About once every four years it occurs in October (in the northern hemisphere)

This got me scratching my head on a dismal Sunday morning.
Surely the moon is just as full everywhere in the world including the southern hemisphere, and they have October the same as us.
But then it dawned on me that what the Wiki person meant is that "harvest" moon in the antipodes is in March/April, during their autumn.
A bit ambiguous when taken out of context.

Yes, the harvest moon this year is on October 4th, nearly 2 months away, and hunters moon on November 2nd.

[red]

Reminds me of the eclipse 10 years ago. We all went
up to the Hoe and had to watch on a screen because
the clouds obliterated everything!

Maggie x

Yeh i was remembing the eclipse too - it was cloudy at our house too -b ut it still went dark.. and seeing that dark rushing over the fields towards us was amazing. one of the most amazing experiences we ever had, .. we had a bit of a party going on, lots of people etc, and it went dark and cold just for a couple of minutes where we were. fab