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| BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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 H. erectusJunior Virtual Ranger Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:03 pm Posts: 1206 Location: On my stoep. Sell by date not expired yet!! 
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Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:35 pm  |
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A full moon is visible all night.
Sorry OWM, The skymaster, was thinking new moon!! |
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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onewithnature Distinguished Virtual Ranger Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 am Posts: 19076 Location: Midway between the infinite and the infinitesimal!
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| Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:54 am |
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Okay, we've got two opinions so far ... anyone else?
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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Joao Junior Virtual Ranger Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:25 pm Posts: 813 Location: North West wanting to go East
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| Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:25 am |
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My guess would be that it is full for the whole night.
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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onewithnature Distinguished Virtual Ranger Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 am Posts: 19076 Location: Midway between the infinite and the infinitesimal!
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| Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:24 pm |
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Well, that's three in agreement so far ... any one prefer to take a different view?
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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ecojunkie Legendary Virtual Ranger Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:05 am Posts: 6365 Location: Back home - a caravan in Malelane Camp, KNP
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| Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:22 pm |
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Logic would say it stays full - as through the night as the earth rotates the moon and sun will stay opposite each other - although from a strictly purist point of view I guess the cycle moves on and so the full moon already begins to wane from the moment it is full at sunset, so it will only appear to be full all night! i.e. strictly speaking full moon only lasts a fleeting moment as it is waxing before that moment and then waning again.
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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H. erectus Junior Virtual Ranger Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:03 pm Posts: 1206 Location: On my stoep. Sell by date not expired yet!!
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| Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:33 pm |
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EJ your'e waxing over waning right out the
big picture!!! May the light 'o the big moon shine brightly upon you |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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onewithnature Distinguished Virtual Ranger Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 am Posts: 19076 Location: Midway between the infinite and the infinitesimal!
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| Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:29 am |
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Thank you for the participation, HE, Siobain, Joao, and EJ.
 It is indeed an interesting question and, EJ, you're perfectly correct!  To all intents and purposes the naked eye will see the moon as full the entire night of a Full Moon. However, because the change of the moon's phases from one into the other is an ongoing, smooth event - in other words, continuous - the actual point of a true Full Moon will only be at an instant in the night we are observing it. If we could indeed detect small changes in the roundness of the moon's disc with the naked eye, we would notice that the moon will be less round just before and just after exact Full Moon occurs. However, this is somewhat hair-splitting for most people (and also since most people have hair to split  ), so we can safely say that the moon is in reality full all night when a Full Moon occurs. |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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onewithnature Distinguished Virtual Ranger Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 am Posts: 19076 Location: Midway between the infinite and the infinitesimal!
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| Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:41 am |
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Since we are going to Kruger for two weeks -
 - this weekend, I am going to set a set of thoughtful questions for the budding astronomers here to consider while I am away. Please consider, and research if necessary, but don't forget to answer the questions too!  a) Please explain how the phases of the Moon come about; i.e. why and how do we see one phase of the Moon as full or new or a crescent, and how does it change to the next phase? b) At New Moon (when the Moon is in full shadow), why does the Moon not block out the Sun completely; also, at Full Moon (when the Moon is fully illuminated by the Sun), why does the Earth not block all sunlight from reaching the Moon? c) Observing from Earth, it takes the Moon about 29.5 days to complete one full cycle of its phases (say from one Full Moon to the next). However, if we had to see the Moon's phases from outside our solar system, it would take about 27.3 days for a full cycle of its phases to occur! Why is there this discrepancy of over two days difference between the two points of observation? |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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onewithnature Distinguished Virtual Ranger Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 am Posts: 19076 Location: Midway between the infinite and the infinitesimal!
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| Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:36 pm |
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At least somebody needs to try at least one of the questions before I return.
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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saraf Moderator Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:19 pm Posts: 5338 Location: Portsmouth, England 
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| Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:03 pm |
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You said we had 2 weeks to do our homework.
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| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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Chacma Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:10 am Posts: 27 Location: Top of a fencepost
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| Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:53 am |
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I am new to this, but just off the cuff I think I know the answer to (c):
The earth is rotating around the sun about every 12 rotations of the moon around the earth. Our perception of a day is relative to our view of the sun, But in fact, because we are rotating around the sun, it is distorting our perception of the rotation of the moon, our rotation is "unwinding" the moon's rotation by about one twelfth of 29.5 days. I would think it also depends on where outside the solar system you are positioned. Are you in the middle of the Milky Way or in the middle of the universe as we know it? Because the solar system is rotating around the Milky Way galaxy and I assume the Milky Way is rotating around the universe...it's all a matter of relativity...or maybe our entire perception of existence is an illusion? |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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PeterPM Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:10 pm Posts: 82 Location: Somerset West
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| Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:26 am |
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Chacma, Stop aping around!
Do you know this or are you making this up?  |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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Chacma Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:10 am Posts: 27 Location: Top of a fencepost
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| Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:49 pm |
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Hi PeterPM,
Just a wild guess to be quite honest, but why don't you join me on the fence and let Onewithnature solve the answer to the music of the orbs and their meaning to our lives back on earth... I have another question for the forum: my late father-in-law always booked his trips to the KNP so that he spent the three nights leading up to the full moon camped at the fence in Balule. He maintained that the nocturnal animals were at their most active on those three nights, rather than those immediately after the full moon. Is there any scientific basis to this theory, or was it just an old husband's tale? |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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saraf Moderator Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:19 pm Posts: 5338 Location: Portsmouth, England
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| Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:07 pm |
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Interesting Chacma. I can often tell when a full moon is approaching due to tempers among my fellow workers (and mine
 ) becoming frayed. |
| Re: BEGINNERS' STARGAZING QUIZ (QM) |
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Chacma Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:10 am Posts: 27 Location: Top of a fencepost
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| Sun Nov 27, 2011 5:03 pm |
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LOL: The werewolves of Portsmouth?
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