I pass this on to the sundial list for those also smitten with the penchant for things astronomical.
>From friend at NASA: ------------- Everyone should mark their calendars this month for the "Last Lunar Harrah" of the Millennium: This year we will see our first full moon to occur on the winter solstice, Dec. 22, commonly called the first day of winter. Since a full moon on the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth) the moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's elliptical orbit that is farthest from the Earth). Since the Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun at this time of the year than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7% stronger, making it brighter. Also, this will be the closest perigee of the Moon of the year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming. If the weather is clear and there is a snow cover where you live (dream-on Houston), it is believed that even car headlights will be superfluous. On December 21st. 1866 the Lakota Sioux took advantage of this combination of occurrences and staged a devastating retaliatory ambush on soldiers in the Wyoming Territory. In lay-mans terms it will be a super bright full moon, much more than the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years! Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendents 100 or so years from now will see this again. Dr. Robert E. Murphy ---------------- Larry Bohlayer All MAIL: Celestial Products, Inc. P.O. Box 801 Middleburg, VA 20118-0801 UPS/FEDEX/RPS/AIRBORNE shipping: Celestial Products, Inc. 20659 St. Louis Rd. Philomont, Virginia 20131 U.S.A. USA (Eastern Time Zone or -5 UT) EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] VOICE: 540-338-4040 FAX: 540-338-4042 ORDER LINE: 800-235-3783 http://www.celestialproducts.com
