Nancy Ricigliano from Massapegua, New York, caught a nearly full moon rising ahead of Earth’s shadow, in the days before last year's Hunter's Moon. She wrote: “I went out to see where the moon will be rising for the full Hunter’s Moon ... I was able to capture the Earth’s shadow and the Belt of Venus!” See more photos of 2018's Hunter's Moon.
Hello friends, a heads up … EarthSky will be taking 2 days off this weekend, Sunday and Monday … back Tuesday.
This weekend - Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings - the moon will look full, or nearly so, to the eye. It's the Northern Hemisphere's first full moon of autumn, and Southern Hemisphere's first full moon of spring. September's full moon was the closest full moon to the autumn equinox, for us in this hemisphere. It was the Harvest Moon. The full moon after the Harvest Moon is called the Hunter's Moon. What's a Hunter's Moon? Is it just a name? In fact, the Hunter's Moon - like the Harvest Moon - has special characteristics. Read more.
Look east after sunset - toward the place where this weekend's Hunter's Moon will be rising - for Earth's shadow. It's a deep blue-gray band, curved as Earth is curved, moving opposite the sun. The Belt of Venus is the subtle pink band above the shadow. You can see Earth's shadow, and the Belt of Venus, in Nancy Ricigliano's image, above. Read more.
A new study suggests that, about 4,000 years ago, a combination of Isolation, extreme weather, and the arrival of humans on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean killed off Earth's last population of mammoths. Read more.
