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Credit & Copyright: Talha Zia
Explanation:
Do all full moons look the same?
No.
To see the slight differences, consider this grid of twelve full moons.
From upper left to lower right, the images represent every
lunation
from 2016 November through 2017 October, as imaged from
Pakistan.
The consecutive
full moons
are all shown at the
same scale, so
unlike the famous Moon Illusion, the
change in apparent size seen here is real.
The change is caused by
the
variation in lunar distance due to the
Moon's significantly
non-circular orbit.
The dark notch at the bottom of the full moon of 2017 August is the
shadow of the Earth -- making this a
partial lunar eclipse.
Besides the sometimes exaggerated coloring,
a subtler change in appearance can also be noticed
on close examination, as
the Moon
seems to wobble slightly from one full moon to the next.
This effect, known as
libration, is
more dramatic and easier to see in this
lunation video
highlighting all of the ways that the
Moon appears
to change over a month
(moon-th).
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January February March April May June July August September October November December |
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Moon
Publications with words: Moon
See also: