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    Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset

    Thursday, 5 June 2025 12:59

    Monday 9th to Sunday 15th June 2025

     

    On the evening of Tuesday 10th we have a Full Moon.  Around 11pm, the Moon will be approaching the south and you will notice that it appears very low in the sky, close to the horizon.

    This unusual occurrence is known as a "major lunar standstill".  What on Earth does that mean?  The Moon's orbit around us is anything but symmetrical and every 18.6 years, its declination (or angle between the Moon's orbit and the equator) reaches a minimum.  This is what's happening on the 10th.

     

    Lunar standstills had particular significance for people back in the Bronze Age and they built monuments to line up with the direction in which the standstill occurred.

     

    Because the Moon will be so close to the horizon, observers will also experience a phenomenon called "Moon illusion" where our natural satellite appears much larger than normal.

    It isn't really larger (or closer to us) and the effect is purely a trick that your brain plays on you when looking at objects near the horizon.  A logical way of understanding it is that the Moon will seem smaller compared to objects on the Earth that are close to you, but larger compared to objects in the distance.

    Sticking with the Moon, go back outside around 1am on Sunday 15th and a waning gibbous Moon will be poking its head up above the south east horizon.  The Moon's libration or "wobble" favours its western limb, where you can find the Mare Orientale.

    www.starsoversomerset.com

    Moon illusion image courtesy of Wikipedia

    Lunar size comparison image courtesy of C M Glee

    Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium

    Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2025

     

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