Two night sky stories

Two night sky stories

SMALLEST FULL MOON OF THE YEAR: Last night's full Moon was the smallest of the year, as much as 14% smaller and 30% dimmer than other full Moons of 2014. But could you tell the difference? When the Moon is high in the sky with no reference points nearby, a big Moon and a small Moon look much the same. To set the scale of the phenomenon, Karzaman Ahmad of the Langkawi National Observatory in Maylasia photographed last night's Moon and placed it alongside a photo of the largest Moon from 2013:

 

"It really was smaller!" he says.

Full Moons vary in size and brightness because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee"). Last night's full Moon was a distant apogee Moon--less big and bright, but no less beautiful.

 

LIGHT PILLARS: Winter is unfolding around the northern hemisphere. As temperatures drop, pillars of light are springing up from ground. Janis Satrovskis of Valmiera, Latvia, photographed this specimen on Jan. 14th:

 

Light pillars are a common sight around northern cities in winter. Urban lights bounce off ice crystals in the air, producing tall luminous columns sometimes mistaken for auroras. Usually the ice crystals are natural, such as snow flakes, but in this case the atmospheric optics were artificial.

"The amazing phenomenon was created by snow blowing machines," explains Satrovskis. "These are our first days with temperatures below zero and ski resorts are making snow. A slight breeze carried manmade snow over the city, creating a spectacular view."

Light pillars are springing up in cold cities around the world. Is yours one of them?

 

Both stories are from SpaceWeather.com