SLEEPING SATELLITE

I happened to glance at the calendar this morning and noticed that there was an opaque black circle next to today's date, just as there had been on New Year's Day. Assuming that this meant 'full moon' I then tweeted about it, as you very rarely see a full moon twice in the same month. In fact, it happens literally, once in a blue moon.

As it turns out, the makers of the calendar intended an open circle to mean full moon, rather than a filled-in one. A filled-in moon (apparently) means today is the second 'new moon' of the month.*

Oh well. I saw this as a good opportunity to find out about the phases of the moon. I don't really know much about this, but it's pretty easy to remember when you think about what the words mean:

New Moon - so new you can't really see it. Try and spy it tonight. The sun isn't in the right place to light it up.

Waxing Crescent - right hand crescent (in the northern hemisphere). In about a week's time, you might be able to see it. There's also a phenomenon called 'Earthshine' which is reflected light from the Earth lighting up the rest of the moon! If you can just about see the rest of the moon with the crescent, that's lit up by Earthlight.

First Quarter - 'half-moon' right hand side (in the northern hemisphere). Most visible in the afternoon and early evening.

Waxing Gibbous - bulging but not quite full (right side illuminated). Gibbous means 'humpbacked'. Also waxing is an old-fashioned way of saying 'growing' which gives you an idea about which quarter of the lunar cycle you're in.

Full Moon - you can see all of it.

Waning Gibbous - bulging but not quite full (on the other side). Waning means disappearing or shrinking, like it was that day I howled at it after choir practice.

Last Quarter - 'half-moon' left hand side (in the northern hemisphere).

Waning Crescent - left hand crescent (in the northern hemisphere). You can usually only see this one before the dawn or during the morning. Maybe that's why the crescent on lots of national flags is the other way round. Maybe that's got nothing to do with it.

New Moon - you can't really see it.

I like the moon.

*reflecting what you actually see when you look up at the moon, I suppose. But then, shouldn't the background be black?