Did you know? The Moon

This Month . . . . The Moon. Bits and pieces about our nearest celestial neighbour.

Because the moon takes almost the same amount of time to complete one revolution as it does one rotation, we always see mainly the same side of the Moon. From Earth, only 59% of the Moon is visible.

If you were above Earth looking down at the North Pole, the Moon will be moving anticlockwise around Earth.

Although the Moon shines bright in the night sky, it does not produce its own light. We see the Moon because it reflects light from the Sun.

About once every 19 years February does not have a Full Moon. Instead, there are two Full Moons in January and March. The last time this happened was in 2018, the next February to not have a full moon will be in 2037.

The entire surface of the moon is covered in a layer of crushed and powdered rocks called regolith. Moon dust is said to smell like spent gunpowder.

Not all full moons are the same size. Their size varies depending on whether the moon is at apogee (far away) or perigee (nearby). The moon is generally 14% bigger when at perigee. The most recent example of this was April 27 when the Moon was 17% larger than usual at perigee Syzergy, Image below taken 27 April 2021 at 5:50pm of Moon at perigee syzergy by T.Stevenson.

If all of this is enough to send you crazy, take heart, the Moon’s phases have historically been linked with madness. The word “lunatic” comes from this association.