dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (12/26/85)
The moon is full tonight -- and it's flooding the night sky with reflected sunlight. More -- after this. December 26 Long Night Moon Tonight the moon is full. It rises in the east at sundown -- and appears near that horizon early in the evening as a big orange ball. Later, as Earth turns beneath the sky, the moon appears to move toward the west. It rises up from murky thicknesses of air near the horizon -- to be high in the sky by midnight -- -- looking smaller -- but brighter -- a white beacon. The full moon nearest the December solstice is called the "Long Night Moon". That's because -- for those of us in the northern hemisphere -- this is the full moon nearest the solstice, which marks the longest night of the year. Right now our hemisphere is tilted away from the sun -- giving us short days and long nights. From Earth's northern hemisphere, the winter sun travels in a low arc across the southern part of the sky. The full moon is opposite the sun in space -- and so each winter, when the sun is riding low in the sky, the full moon rides high in the sky. That's the case with tonight's moon. If you look outside, you may notice the especially high path of the full moon. So if you're outside tonight, look for the full moon. It will be taking the high road across the sky. The exact instant of full moon -- when the moon is most directly opposite the sun this month -- is Friday morning at 1:32 A.M. Central Standard Time. Script by Diana Hadley and Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin