17 November 2013

Moon

Yorkipedia - Here are two pictures of our moon. I snapped them recently with my new camera. On average our moon is 238,855 miles from Earth and at its equator it has a circumference of 6,783.5 miles compared with this planet which has a circumference of 24,859.82 miles. In volume, the moon is 27% the size of Earth. The moon effectively sucks and repels our oceans - making tides. 

On clear full moon nights before electricity came along, people would utilise the moonlight for work and leisure. Most of us have lost that ancient practical connection with the moon and many even fail to recognise that in its phases it demonstrates the passing of time - month by month. In ancient times, all pre-Christian and pre-Muslim societies deified and revered the moon. But in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare warned:  “O, swear not by the moon, the fickle moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.”

When Armstrong and Aldrin arrived on the moon's surface on July 20th 1969, they discovered that it was not  after all made of cheese which was bad news for the world's many starving people who - if they had known - may also have been bewildered by the astronomical (excuse the pun) cost of the Apollo project - an estimated $2.6 billion - and that was in the sixties! $2.6 billion would have bought a lot of bags of rice, a lot of water purification tablets, a lot of inoculations, a lot of goats...

19 comments:

  1. YP ~ I think you are onto something there ~ you would be the man to develop a Wiki about Yorkshire ~ the moon is your limit. And Yorkipedia is a fine name ~ I would be running down to the patents office to secure that domain name.

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    1. Yorkipedia - yes! Wait till you read my entry for Cairns, specifically Trinity Bay High School!

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    2. YP ~ does this look familiar? http://memorablemeanders.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/full-moon-over-mwadui.html

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  2. This camera is an impressive piece of kit. Maybe it's the driver. The second image is a beauty.

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    1. Adrian. I don't "drive" the camera. I just hold it, focus and press the button. I am a photographer - not a "driver" though I often have to drive to locations.

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  3. An impressive camera.....or an impressive use of a camera...or both...cool pics either way.

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    1. It's so easy to use Libby - if you keep it in automatic mode - lazy ass that I am.

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  4. Lovely. Ditto Libby. It's out there right now, tonight. My claws are clattering on the keyboard as I type.

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    1. You were possessed by the moonlight Kate - like a she-werewolf! HOOOOOWWWLLL!

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  5. Will you be going to Angola soon, to take photos for Mr. Hippo? Hopefully before he dies of an infected toe.

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    1. I can't afford it Jan. Otherwise I'd be glad to go. I'd even take him a few cans of Tetley's bitter to cool in his fridge. Perhaps Blogger and its wealthy participants will sponsor me? I am sure I can make a space for such an adventure in my crammed social diary.

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  6. I thought I would never enjoy your moons so much

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    1. Avert your eyes when I moon you scoundrel!

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  7. Come full moon Marcia gets all irritable and impossible. Having been brought up on the philosophical study of science, I am not superstitious so I believe her mood changes are less to do with her being a werewolf and more to do with her being, well, a woman.

    Jan has piqued my interest. Does the moon really look different from the southern hemisphere? Why, apart from its phases, does it always present the same face?I am only six degrees south of the Equator but I shall take a snap of the moon for comparative purposes. Perhaps some of our Antipodean colleagues could do the same? I mean they are about as far South as anyone. That way we can compare shots taken from the most Northerly point of civilisation, and compare them with Equatorial Hell on earth and the most Southerly reach of civilisation.

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    1. Err...California is in the northern hemisphere but Katherine (Tauranga NZ) is certainly in the southern hemisphere. See what happens when you sup cheap scotch!

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    2. Piqued my interest in the sense she suggested you come to Angola to take some photos and me then wondering what the moon looks like from different parts of the world. It is something we could try next full moon if you remind me. On cheap scotch I am bound to forget.

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    3. Hippo, I think that is a fine suggestion ~ I posted a link above to photos from Tanzania.

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  8. The moon was so bright last night that when I woke up half a dozen times, I thought it was time to get up for work. And the coyotes were going crazy the last couple nights howling at the moon!!!! Makes my sheep very nervous.

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    1. Hi Kelly! I have just been checking out your blog. How great that you got to meet with other sheep farmers and even made it up to the Shetlands! Amazing! I have never been there myself!...I'd love to hear the sound of coyotes howling at the moon but I am not a sheep!

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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