Above the moon. The big moon doesn't drive you crazy
Developments
On Sunday 23 June, the sky could be seen the largest and brightest moon of 2013, and amateur astronomers have an excellent opportunity to discern many of the details of our satellite, even without particularly sophisticated technology.
Approximately once a year, the Moon approaches the Earth as close as possible. The moment of the full moon when the moon is closest to our planet is called Super moon.
Supermoon has been accused of a wide variety of sins ranging from terrible floods and ending with the madness of people, but how fair is this?
Find out about the most curious facts and mythsrelated to the Supermoon, which modern science has debunked.
Full moon at Super Moon 2013 over the Statue of Liberty in New York
Big Moon 2013
The Big Moon does not destroy the Earth
Despite the fears of people around the world, the Big Moon will not bring the slightest harm to the Earth and its inhabitants. The supermoon is an absolutely normal natural phenomenon that occurs due to the fact that the Moon has an elliptical orbit around the Earth, and it is natural that the satellite passes points when it is closer or further from the host planet.
The big moon doesn't drive you crazy
Do not be afraid of the Big Moon: Supermoon will not turn you into a sleepwalker! Research has shown that any full moon does not affect human behavior. Full moons and supermoons cannot exacerbate diseases in patients suffering from various mental disorders, do not impair consciousness, and cannot push a person to crime.
Marble statue against the backdrop of an almost full moon in Hackensack, USA, June 21, 2013
Not all big moons are the same
The perigee between the Moon and Earth differ each year, just like the distance between the Moon and Earth. While this may sound like a huge figure, the Moon's average distance from Earth is approximately 30 diameters our planet.
Solar gravity affects the fact that the Earth and the Moon are closer to each other, as well as the fact that the Moon's orbit is so uneven.
Supermoon 2013
In winter the supermoons seem bigger
Indeed, full moons appear slightly larger in winter than in summer. In December, the Earth is located closest to the Sun, which means that our star attracts the satellite closer to the planet with its gravity. Thanks to this phenomenon, the Supermoon is larger in winter.
Supermoons affect the ebb and flow, but not much
Large moons can slightly change the ebb and flow, but they are not capable of causing natural disasters, experts say. The moon in its full phase attracts more water, causing tides, but at the time of the Supermoon, the difference in gravity is negligible.
Bigger moons will get smaller
Enjoy watching big moons today because the picture will be slightly different in the distant future. Larger moons will get smaller as the Moon's orbit gradually recedes further from Earth. Each year the orbit recedes by 3.8 centimeters.
Scientists suspect that immediately after formation, the satellite is only 22,530 kilometers, but today the distance is 384402 kilometers.
Full Moon June 2013
Supermoon takes place annually
The Super Moon can be observed every year at least once, and from both hemispheres. The next Supermoon will take place August 14, 2014... Don't be discouraged if you were unable to observe the Big Moon on Sunday, the Moon will still be perfectly visible in the coming nights.
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Sarah Dessen
Above the moon
Book: Above the moon
Series: out of series
Original name: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Chapters: 21
Interpreter: Ekaterina Chernetsova
Editor: Ekaterina Chernetsova
Cover: Asemgul Buzaubakova
You can discuss the book and our work HERE
Especially for WORLD OF DIFFERENT BOOKS GROUP BOOK TRANSLATIONS
Attention! This book is for private use only.
familiarization and does not include any commercial
action.
Don't post this book on sites like Wattpad! We will see
what you posted - get banned FOREVER!
Chapter 1
WELL, HERE AND THEY have arrived. The woman behind the wheel looked over her shoulder and glared angrily
for three children sitting in the back seat of a car. A vein throbbed in her neck, and she
herself irritated:
We're going to turn around right here and go home to Paterson, okay? I am not kidding. From me
pretty.
The children said nothing. She stared at them for a few more moments, then turned
to me. I smiled politely.
The map on your site is just disgusting, ”she told me. Behind her, the children began
push and shove each other, giggle and tickle. Well, now it's clear why she's angry.
“We got lost three times before we got to you.
I'm sorry, we will definitely correct this shortcoming, - I agreed with her. - Remind
please, your last name.
Webster.
Next to me was a wicker basket with envelopes containing the keys to the beach houses.
Each envelope bore the name of the tenant who moved in that day. So Miller, Tubman,
Simons, Wallis ... Oh, Webster.
An excellent choice, - I praised, handing her an envelope with keys, and then a free
gift: a beach bag with the Colby Beaches logo. The bag was full of our own ad
products - a booklet, several branded pens, a small guidebook and a cheap bottle-
cooler of drinks. Typically, these bottles were thrown away or left intact, but
for some reason, we still continued to poke them into each guest. - Enjoy your stay,
enjoy your vacation!
She smiled subtly, took the envelope from me with two fingers, then the bag, and then drove
However, she was not the only one like this - most of the new guests expressed their
claims, complained or were simply rude. But that's my job: to meet tourists
give them the keys to their rented houses and wish them a pleasant stay.
Welcome to the coast, - I smiled at the next driver who stopped near
my sandbox.
Yes, you are not mistaken - in the middle of the parking lot there was a sandbox in which I lived. Each
the newcomer drove past me, received a key and a gift, and only then got into
long-awaited paradise. As for me, I remained standing in the sun and with sand in
sandals. But I'm used to it, it's okay.
Your name please?
Well, ”Margot, the older sister, greeted me as I walked into the office two hours later. - How
All feet in the sand, - as usual I responded and walked straight to the cooler with water. Having devastated
plastic cup three times, I took a deep breath. Finally.
You're on the beach, Emaline, ”she said.
No, I'm in the office. ”I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “The beach is two miles from here. And so and so
i didn't understand why the sandbox should be the first thing guests see. And why am I standing in it.
Because, - Margo responded coldly, - the sandbox is a symbol of carelessness. We want,
so that guests forget about their problems and spend this time carefree. Seeing the sandbox
they realize that their vacation has officially begun.
It is still unclear to me why I should be in it.
Because you are part of this carefree world in which they find themselves.
I rolled my eyes. After graduating from university, Margot became completely unbearable. She's back
home, literally gushing with ideas on how to make tourism in our town “amazing
and unforgettable ", as she herself put it, and decided to start with the Colby Beaches company,
which our family has owned for fifty years. Our grandparents decided what would happen
it's great if houses appear on the coast that can be rented for a while
vacation - and that's how it all started. Margot was the first in our family to receive a diploma
her master's in tourism, and now she ran everything as the most educated. Namely -
did whatever she wanted.
So she put a sandbox in the parking lot, and then ordered another one and put it up in the office.
Brilliant, isn't it? However, no one but me has ever expressed surprise at
this occasion. However, no one but me had to workstanding in the sand.
There was a chuckle behind me. Of course, this is a grandmother, sitting at the table, calling someone.
Meeting my gaze, she winked. Granny always understood how I felt, and even
tried to defend me, but Margot was adamant. Wait, Emaline, in the sandbox - period.
Symbolize carelessness.
And don't forget about the VIP service, - reminded the sister. - Five thirty, I remind you. AND,
please check what the fruit and cheese plates look like. Amber sort of laid it out
but you know how she does whatever is asked for.
Amber is another sister of mine. She studied to be a hairdresser, worked in a real estate company, and
now she also fell into bondage to Margot, about which she endlessly complained and did everything that
called, "get it off."
Grandma was still on the phone, and I took a chair and sat down next to her. She smiled.
Yes, Roger, I understand everything, believe me, ”she said. I began to stack brochures
collapsed on her desk. She's always in this mess, but she says she's comfortable in it.
Let it be so, but I will still clear the table a little. - The fact is that doors often suffer from
humid air and heat, especially those doors that lead directly to the beach. We all
we will fix it as soon as possible, but for now you have to go around.
Roger said something in response, while Grandmother took the candy from the plate in front of
her. Then she suggested it to me, but I just shook my head.
Of course of course. You are far from the first to complain, but for now you have to endure. I promise this
In 1609, after the invention of the telescope, humanity was able to examine its space satellite for the first time in detail. Since then, the Moon is the most studied cosmic body, as well as the first one that man has been able to visit.
The first thing to be dealt with is what is our satellite? The answer is unexpected: although the Moon is considered a satellite, it is technically as full-fledged planet as the Earth. It is large - 3476 kilometers across at the equator - and weighs 7.347 × 10 22 kilograms; The moon is only slightly inferior to the smallest planet in the solar system. All this makes it a full-fledged participant in the Moon-Earth gravitational system.
Another such tandem in the solar system is known, and Charon. Although the entire mass of our satellite is just over a hundredth of the mass of the Earth, the Moon does not revolve around the Earth itself - they have a common center of mass. And the closeness of a satellite to us gives rise to another interesting effect, tidal capture. Because of him, the Moon is always turned to the Earth by the same side.
Moreover, from the inside, the Moon is arranged like a full-fledged planet - it has a crust, a mantle and even a core, and in the distant past volcanoes existed on it. However, nothing remained of the ancient landscapes - over the course of four and a half billion years of the Moon's history, millions of tons of meteorites and asteroids fell on it, furrowing it, leaving craters. Some of the blows were so strong that they broke through her bark right down to her mantle. The pits from such collisions formed lunar seas, dark spots on the moon, which are easily distinguishable from. Moreover, they are present exclusively on the visible side. Why? We will talk about this further.
Among cosmic bodies, the Moon influences the Earth the most - except, perhaps, the Sun. Lunar tides, which regularly raise the water level in the world's oceans, are the most obvious, but not the strongest, impact of the satellite. So, gradually moving away from the Earth, the Moon slows down the rotation of the planet - the solar day has grown from the original 5 to the modern 24 hours. The satellite also serves as a natural barrier against hundreds of meteorites and asteroids, intercepting them on their way to Earth.
And without a doubt, the Moon is a tasty object for astronomers, both amateurs and professionals. Although the distance to the Moon has been measured to within a meter using laser technology, and soil samples from it have been brought to Earth many times, there is still room for discovery. For example, scientists are hunting for lunar anomalies - mysterious flares and auroras on the lunar surface, not all of which can be explained. It turns out that our satellite hides much more than is visible on the surface - let's figure out the secrets of the Moon together!
Topographic map of the Moon
Moon characteristics
The scientific study of the moon is now over 2,200 years old. The movement of a satellite in the sky of the Earth, the phases and distance from it to the Earth were described in detail by the ancient Greeks - and the internal structure of the Moon and its history are still being investigated by spacecraft. Nevertheless, centuries of work by philosophers and then by physicists and mathematicians have provided very accurate data on how our Moon looks and moves, and why it is exactly the same. All information about the satellite can be divided into several categories, mutually flowing from each other.
Orbital characteristics of the Moon
How does the moon move around the earth? If our planet were stationary, the satellite would rotate in an almost perfect circle, from time to time slightly approaching and moving away from the planet. But the Earth itself around the Sun - the Moon has to constantly "catch up" with the planet. And our Earth is not the only body with which our satellite interacts. The Sun, located 390 times farther from the Earth from the Moon, is 333 thousand times more massive than the Earth. And even taking into account the inverse square law, according to which the intensity of any energy source drops sharply with distance, the Sun attracts the Moon 2.2 times stronger than the Earth!
Therefore, the final trajectory of the movement of our satellite resembles a spiral, and even difficult. The axis of the lunar orbit fluctuates, the Moon itself periodically approaches and moves away, and on a global scale it completely flies away from the Earth. The same fluctuations lead to the fact that the visible side of the Moon is not the same hemisphere of the satellite, but different parts of it, which alternately rotate towards the Earth due to the "rocking" of the satellite in orbit. These movements of the Moon in longitude and latitude are called librations, and allow you to look behind the reverse side of our satellite long before the first flyby by spacecraft. From east to west, the moon rotates 7.5 degrees, and from north to south - 6.5 degrees. Therefore, from the Earth, you can easily see both poles of the moon.
The specific orbital characteristics of the Moon are useful not only for astronomers and astronauts - for example, photographers especially appreciate the supermoon: the phase of the moon in which it reaches its maximum size. This is the full moon during which the moon is at perigee. Here are the main parameters of our satellite:
- The Moon's orbit is elliptical, its deviation from the ideal circle is about 0.049. Taking into account the orbital fluctuations, the minimum distance of the satellite to the Earth (perigee) is 362 thousand kilometers, and the maximum (apogee) is 405 thousand kilometers.
- The common center of mass of the Earth and the Moon is 4.5 thousand kilometers from the center of the Earth.
- The sidereal month - the full passage of the Moon in its orbit - takes 27.3 days. However, for a complete revolution around the Earth and a change in the lunar phases, it takes 2.2 days more - after all, during the time that the Moon goes in its orbit, the Earth flies through the thirteenth part of its own orbit around the Sun!
- The moon is in tidal grip of the Earth - it rotates around its axis at the same speed as around the Earth. Because of this, the Moon is constantly turned to the Earth by the same side. This condition is typical for satellites that are very close to the planet.
- The night and day on the moon are very long - half an earth month.
- In those periods when the Moon comes out from behind the globe, it is visible in the sky - the shadow of our planet gradually slides off the satellite, allowing the Sun to illuminate it, and then closes it back. The changes in the illumination of the Moon, visible from the Earth, are called it. During the new moon, the satellite is not visible in the sky, in the phase of the young moon, its thin crescent appears, resembling the curl of the letter "P", in the first quarter the moon is exactly half lit, and during the full moon it is noticeably best. Further phases - the second quarter and the old moon - occur in reverse order.
An interesting fact: since the lunar month is shorter than the calendar one, sometimes there can be two full moons in one month - the second is called the "blue moon". It is as bright as an ordinary floor - it illuminates the Earth by 0.25 lux (for example, the usual lighting inside a house is 50 lux). The Earth itself illuminates the Moon 64 times more - as much as 16 lux. Of course, all light is not its own, but reflected sunlight.
- The Moon's orbit is tilted to the plane of the Earth's orbit and crosses it regularly. The inclination of the satellite is constantly changing, varying between 4.5 ° and 5.3 °. It takes more than 18 years to change the inclination of the moon.
- The moon moves around the earth at a speed of 1.02 km / s. This is much less than the speed of movement of the Earth around the Sun - 29.7 km / s. The maximum speed of the spacecraft reached by the probe for researching the Sun "Helios-B" was 66 kilometers per second.
Physical parameters of the moon and its composition
It took people a long time to understand how big the moon is and what it consists of. Only in 1753, the scientist R. Boskovich was able to prove that the Moon does not have an essential atmosphere, as well as liquid seas - when covered by the Moon, stars disappear instantly, when the presence would make it possible to observe their gradual "fading". It took another 200 years for the Soviet station "Luna-13" in 1966 to measure the mechanical properties of the lunar surface. And nothing was known about the far side of the moon until 1959, when the Luna-3 apparatus was unable to take its first pictures.
The Apollo 11 crew brought the first samples to the surface in 1969. They also became the first people to visit the Moon - until 1972, 6 ships landed on it, and 12 astronauts landed. The reliability of these flights was often doubted - however, many of the critics' points proceeded from their ignorance in space affairs. The American flag, which, according to the assurances of the conspiracy theorists, "could not fly in the airless space of the moon," is actually solid and static - it was specially reinforced with solid threads. This was done specifically in order to take beautiful pictures - the sagging canvas is not so spectacular.
Many color and shape distortions in the reflections on the helmets of the spacesuits in which the fake was sought were due to gold plating on the UV-protective glass. The Soviet cosmonauts, who watched the broadcast of the astronauts' landing in real time, also confirmed the accuracy of what was happening. And who can deceive an expert in his field?
And complete geological and topographic maps of our satellite are being compiled to this day. In 2009, the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) space station not only delivered the most detailed images of the Moon in history, but also proved the presence of a large amount of frozen water on it. He also put an end to the discussion about whether there were people on the moon by filming traces of the Apollo team from the low orbit of the moon. The device was equipped with equipment from several countries of the world, including Russia.
Since new space states like China and private companies are joining the exploration of the moon, fresh data comes in every day. We have collected the main parameters of our satellite:
- The lunar surface area covers 37.9x10 6 square kilometers - about 0.07% of the entire Earth's area. Incredibly, this is only 20% larger than the area of \u200b\u200ball human-populated areas on our planet!
- The average density of the moon is 3.4 g / cm 3. It is 40% less than the density of the Earth - primarily due to the fact that the satellite is devoid of many heavy elements like iron, which our planet is rich in. In addition, 2% of the Moon's mass falls on regolith - a small crumb of stone created by cosmic erosion and impacts of meteorites, the density of which is lower than ordinary rock. Its thickness in some places reaches tens of meters!
- Everyone knows that the Moon is much smaller than the Earth, which affects its gravity. Acceleration of free fall on it is 1.63 m / s 2 - only 16.5 percent of the entire Earth's gravity. The astronauts' jumps on the moon were very high, even though their suits weighed 35.4 kilograms - almost like knightly armor! At the same time, they were still restrained: a fall in a vacuum was quite dangerous. Below is a video of the astronaut jumping from the live broadcast.
- Lunar seas cover about 17% of the entire Moon - mainly its visible side, which is almost a third covered by them. They are the traces of the impacts of particularly heavy meteorites, which literally ripped off the satellite's crust. In these places, the surface is separated from the Moon's mantle only by a thin, half-kilometer layer of solidified lava - basalt. Since the concentration of solids increases closer to the center of any large cosmic body, there is more metal in the lunar seas than anywhere else on the Moon.
- The main landform of the Moon is craters and other derivatives from impacts and shock waves that are steroids. Lunar mountains and circuses were built hugely and changed the structure of the Moon's surface beyond recognition. Their role was especially strong at the beginning of the history of the Moon, when it was still liquid - the falls lifted whole waves of molten stone. This also caused the formation of lunar seas: the side facing the Earth was more hot due to the concentration of heavy substances in it, which is why the asteroids influenced it more than the cool back side. The reason for this uneven distribution of matter was the attraction of the Earth, which was especially strong at the beginning of the history of the Moon, when it was closer.
- In addition to craters, mountains and seas, there are caves and cracks in the moon - surviving witnesses of those times when the bowels of the moon were as hot as it was, and volcanoes acted on it. These caves often contain water ice, as well as craters at the poles, which is why they are often considered as places for future lunar bases.
- The real color of the Moon's surface is very dark, closer to black. All over the Moon, there are a variety of colors - from turquoise blue to almost orange. The light gray tint of the Moon from the Earth and in the images is due to the high illumination of the Moon by the Sun. Due to its dark color, the satellite's surface reflects only 12% of all rays falling from our star. If the moon were brighter, it would be as bright as day during full moons.
How did the moon form?
The study of the minerals of the moon and its history is one of the most difficult disciplines for scientists. The surface of the Moon is open to cosmic rays, and there is nothing to trap the heat at the surface - therefore, the satellite heats up to 105 ° C during the day, and cools down to -150 ° C at night. The two-week length of day and night increases the effect on the surface - and as a result, the minerals of the Moon change beyond recognition with time. However, we managed to find out something.
Today, the Moon is believed to be the product of a collision of a large planetary embryo, Theia, with the Earth, which occurred billions of years ago, when our planet was completely molten. Part of the planet that collided with us (and it was the size of) was absorbed - but its core, along with part of the Earth's surface matter, was thrown by inertia into orbit, where it remained in the form of the Moon.
This is proved by the above-mentioned deficiency of iron and other metals on the Moon - by the time Theia pulled out a piece of terrestrial matter, most of the heavy elements of our planet were pulled inward by gravity, to the core. This collision was reflected in the further development of the Earth - it began to rotate faster, and the axis of its rotation tilted, which made it possible to change the seasons.
Further, the Moon developed as an ordinary planet - it formed an iron core, mantle, crust, lithospheric plates and even its own atmosphere. However, the low mass and composition poor in heavy elements led to the fact that the bowels of our satellite quickly cooled down, and the atmosphere evaporated from the high temperature and the absence of a magnetic field. However, some processes are still taking place inside - because of the movements in the lithosphere of the Moon, moonquakes sometimes occur. They represent one of the main dangers for the future colonizers of the Moon: their scope reaches 5 and a half points on the Richter scale, and they last much longer than the earth's - there is no ocean that can absorb the momentum of the earth's interior.
The main chemical elements on the moon are silicon, aluminum, calcium and magnesium. The minerals that form these elements are similar to those on Earth and are even found on our planet. However, the main difference between the minerals of the moon is the absence of exposure to water and oxygen produced by living things, a high proportion of meteorite impurities and traces of the effects of cosmic radiation. The ozone layer of the Earth was formed a long time ago, and the atmosphere burns out most of the mass of falling meteorites, allowing water and gases to slowly but surely change the face of our planet.
The future of the moon
The moon is the first space body after Mars, which claims to be the primary human colonization. In a sense, the Moon has already been mastered - the USSR and the USA have left state regalia on the satellite, and orbital radio telescopes are hiding behind the far side of the Moon from the Earth, a generator of many interference in the air. However, what awaits our satellite in the future?
The main process, which has already been mentioned more than once in the article, is the receding of the Moon due to tidal acceleration. It happens rather slowly - the satellite flies away no more than 0.5 centimeters per year. However, something completely different is important here. Distance from the Earth, the Moon slows down its rotation. Sooner or later, a moment may come when a day on Earth will last as long as the lunar month - 29-30 days.
However, the Moon's removal will have its limit. After reaching it, the Moon will begin to approach the Earth in turns - and much faster than it moved away. However, she will not be able to completely crash. 12-20 thousand kilometers from the Earth, its Roche lobe begins - the gravitational limit at which the satellite of any planet can maintain a solid shape. Therefore, the Moon on approach will be torn into millions of small fragments. Some of them will fall to Earth, setting up a bombardment thousands of times more powerful than nuclear, and the rest will form a ring around the planet like. However, it will not be so bright - the rings of the gas giants are made of ice, which is many times brighter than the dark rocks of the Moon - they will not always be visible in the sky. The ring of the Earth will pose a problem for astronomers of the future - if, of course, by that time someone will remain on the planet.
Colonization of the Moon
However, all this will happen in billions of years. Until then, mankind considers the moon as the first potential object for space colonization. However, what exactly is meant by "conquering the moon"? Now we will look at the nearest prospects together.
Many people imagine the colonization of space is like the colonization of the Earth during the New Age - searching for valuable resources, obtaining them, and then bringing them back home. However, this does not apply to space - in the next couple of hundred years, delivering a kilogram of gold even from the nearest asteroid will cost more than mining it from the most difficult and dangerous mines. Also, the Moon is unlikely to act as a "dacha sector of the Earth" in the near future - although there are large deposits of valuable resources, it will be difficult to grow food there.
But our satellite may well become a base for further space exploration in promising directions - for example, the same Mars. The main problem in astronautics today is the weight limitations of spacecraft. To launch, you have to build monstrous structures that need tons of fuel - after all, you need to overcome not only the Earth's gravity, but also the atmosphere! And if this is an interplanetary ship, then you also need to refuel it. This seriously constrains designers, forcing them to prefer parsimony to functionality.
The moon is much better suited for a launch pad for spaceships. The lack of an atmosphere and low speed to overcome the Moon's gravity - 2.38 km / s versus 11.2 km / s from Earth - make launches much easier. And the satellite's mineral deposits make it possible to save on fuel weight - a stone around the neck of astronautics, which takes up a significant proportion of the mass of any vehicle. By expanding the production of rocket fuel on the moon, it will be possible to launch large and complex spaceships, assembled from parts delivered from Earth. And assembly on the Moon will be much easier than on Earth orbit - and much more reliable.
The technologies existing today allow, if not completely, then partially, to implement this project. However, any steps in this direction require risk. An enormous investment of money will require research for the required fossils, as well as the development, delivery and testing of modules for future lunar bases. And the estimated cost of launching even the initial elements alone can ruin an entire superpower!
Therefore, the colonization of the moon is not so much the work of scientists and engineers as the people of the whole world to achieve such a valuable unity. For in the unity of humanity lies the true strength of the Earth.
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Observing the moon in the sky, how often do we ask ourselves the question that it can influence our weather and, possibly, be the key to unraveling popular signs?
The problem of long-range weather forecasts (LFS) is one of the most pressing problems facing science. The national economy needs these forecasts, but, alas, the accuracy of the DPP still leaves much to be desired. In the best case, it is possible to predict certain trends in weather changes, for example, cold or heat waves, approximate periods of cyclonic or anticyclonic weather. Anticipate particularly adverse weather events such as heavy precipitation, winds, hail, etc. for a long time is not yet possible. One can only assume that at one time or another, taking into account the predicted nature of the weather, one or another hazardous phenomena (OH) can be expected.
Many DPP creators in their forecasts more and more often take into account the influence on the Earth, and, consequently, on the Earth's weather, of cosmic bodies, such as the planets of the solar system, as well as various cosmic cycles.
Over the years, the DPP of V. Stalnov have been published on the pages of a number of media outlets, which, in the opinion of many, have proven themselves well (although there are other opinions). His monthly forecasts for Moscow and the region can be found on our website.
On the web, you can find other forecasts made according to different methods. Some predictions, of course, smack of quackery. But a person so wants to learn how to predict the weather for a long time!
In 1991, an article was published in the journal Science and Life, the author of which tried to show the connection between the change in the declination of the moon and changes in the weather. The bottom line was that during periods of the "high moon" the anticyclonic nature of the weather is more often observed, and during the periods of the "low moon" - cyclonic. Of course, after reading the article, many questions remained, but the weather forecast for the Central Region of the Russian Federation published at its end based on this guess for a period equal to a year, in most cases corresponded to reality.
Recall that the periods of the "high moon" correspond to about 5 days, during which the moon at the moment of the upper climax rises to its maximum height above the point of the south and is in the constellations Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. And in a period equal to about 5 days of the "low moon", the moon is in the constellations of Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Capricorn. Then, at the moment of the upper climax, it passes the point of the south at the minimum height.
The "high" and "low" periods of the Moon can be determined by a tear-off (and any other) calendar containing information about the rising and setting of the Moon. The periods of the "high" Moon have the maximum time interval between its rising and setting, and during the periods of the "low" Moon, on the contrary, the minimum time interval between these two events.
Samsonov day and summer weather
Doctor of Geographical Sciences G. RZHEPLINSKY
The weather, as it will be on Samson's day (July 10th or June 27th according to the old style), will remain for the next forty days, that is, until mid-August. When the bird cherry blossoms, one should expect a cold snap and rains. These two popular weather signs are widely known in our central Russia.
Especially memorable is the omen associated with bird cherry. This is understandable. After bored winter landscapes, after spring blackness and mud, the thickets of bird cherry, strewn with snow-white fragrant bunches of flowers, are perceived as a joyful explosion of life, as a holiday of the entry of spring into its own rights.
I would like to go to the forest as soon as possible in order to bring this holiday into my house together with a bouquet of bird cherry. But it was not there! The weather had just been nice, warm and suddenly turned bad. The sky was overcast with stratus clouds, it became windy, a cold rain fell, and wet snowflakes would fly. Remember, this year, just recently, everything was exactly like that. Why, after all, it turns out that the cooling after warm days occurs just during the flowering of the bird cherry? After all, it is clear that there can be no direct connection here. There is an assumption that bird cherry, or rather, the periods of its vegetative development coincide in time with some natural processes that affect weather changes.
Trying to understand this, I first of all planted a bird cherry tree in my dacha opposite the porch. It accepted well, and the very next year the bird cherry blossomed in the same way as its wild fellow tribesmen. I began to observe flowering from year to year. The sign of a cold snap has come true 10 times in 12 years.
In addition, I noticed such patterns.
The earliest flowering of bird cherry was observed in the first, and at the latest - in the last days of May, that is, with a time gap of slightly less than a month. I know that there are cases when bird cherry blossoms in April and even in March, as well as in early June, but this happens extremely rarely. The early or late blooming times of bird cherry depend on the sum of the temperatures of the previous days. If April was warm, then by May the buds are already well developed - the tassels hang on the branches, and a few warm, sunny days are enough for them to bloom. If the buds are still in their infancy, they will not have time to bloom in the first warm days of May, and then the bird cherry blossoms only many days later - after the next warming in May.
In each year the bird cherry blossoms either 8-12 days earlier or 15-20 days later than in the previous year. It has never bloomed at the same time, such shifts have necessarily occurred.
All these observations do not contain anything super-unexpected, and I did not pay special attention to them until I got the idea to compare the blooming dates of the bird cherry with the periods of the change in the declination of the moon.
EXPLANATION
The results of the author's observations on the influence of the lunar declinations on the weather are detailed in his work "Peculiarities of tidal formation in the atmosphere and the weather", published in the collection of scientific papers "Agroecological resources (variability and forecasting)", 1990. Here we will give only some explanations that help to understand the stated further hypothesis.
To determine the position of the moon, the symbols will be used: B - "high moon" and H - "low moon". The physical meaning of these designations is as follows: B - an interval equal to five days, during which the Moon in the northern hemisphere occupies its highest position above the horizon, that is, reaches the greatest northern declination. In the southern hemisphere at this time, the Moon will be at its lowest position. H is the time interval, also equal to five days, when the Moon reaches the maximum southern declination, therefore, in the northern hemisphere this will be the time of the lowest declination. Between B and H - the time interval within which the Moon passes from the northern hemisphere to the southern (from B to H). The same time interval within which the moon passes from the southern hemisphere to the northern, that is, from H to B.
It takes 13.65 days for the Moon to move from its northernmost to its southernmost declination. And the full cycle or period of these motions of the moon from the northern hemisphere to the southern one and vice versa is equal to 27.32 days.
The author notes that, according to his observations, in the region, which includes the northwestern half of the Moscow region and the adjacent districts of the Tver, Smolensk and Kaluga regions, during interval B, anticyclonic weather transformations usually occur, and interval H - cyclonic weather transformations.
It is possible to determine the days when the moon is in the intervals B and H using the data that are reported in the usual tear-off or loose-leaf calendars. Those five days, which are the longest time from sunrise to moonset, are interval B, and the shortest is interval H.
These are the patterns I noticed when I compared the blooming dates of the bird cherry blossoms with the declination periods of the moon. First, the flowering of bird cherry, regardless of whether it is early or later, in almost all cases (10 times out of 12) began during the transition from interval B to interval H. Or, more precisely, immediately after interval B, for which anticyclonic transformations, or, in other words, good sunny weather are characteristic. But then the interval H follows, characterized by cyclonic weather transformations, that is, the passage of frontal zones of cloudiness and precipitation, cooling.
Secondly, in May, as in any other month of the year, there may be not one, but two intervals of the "high moon" - at the beginning and at the end of the month. Between them there are 27.32 days. Consequently, the bird cherry can bloom either in early May, that is, after the first interval B (if it was ready for flowering), or after the second interval, and this is already at the end of May.
Third, interannual shifts in the dates of the B intervals (as well as the H intervals) are minus 10-11 days. Therefore, if in a given year the bird cherry blossomed after the first May interval of the "high moon", for example, May 12, then next year it will bloom on May 1-2. If by this time the bird cherry has not yet been prepared for flowering (April was cold), then it will bloom only after the second May interval B. And it will come in 27.32 days. That is, in this case, the bird cherry blossoms on May 29, 17 days later than in the previous year (May 12). As you can see, such shifted dates of bird cherry flowering, associated with the corresponding shifts in the dates of the declination of the Moon, perfectly coincide with the results of my 12-year observations, which were described above.
So, it can be argued that the sign that with the flowering of bird cherry a cold snap comes, received a very real, logical justification. The same is true for the interannual shifts in the blooming dates of bird cherry.
And I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that cold snaps coincide with the flowering of not only bird cherry, but also a number of other plants, and even with the dates of spawning of frogs and some fish. But it was the bird cherry that entered the popular omen, probably because its beautiful fragrant flowers are already very noticeable and attract attention.
Now about the popular omen associated with Samson's day.
As you remember, according to this omen: "It will rain on Samson - six weeks then," or: the weather observed on Samson, that is, on July 10, will remain the same for forty days. If so, what explains this pattern?
July 10th - mid-summer. We must expect that by this time the weather should have stabilized - either bad or good. If clear, sunny weather has already settled over the vast expanses of our continent, then hardly any synoptic processes can change it in the near future - it is still far from autumn, and the sun is still high.
I remember how during the catastrophic drought of 1972, Academician E. Fedorov, speaking on television, said: “The anticyclone occupies the entire European territory of our country and has such a vertical development that there are no forces in nature that could move it. Therefore, in the coming days the drought will continue. "
If the bad weather has stabilized (windy, cloudy, it rains, there is not enough heat and light), then one can hardly expect that real summer will come to us later, closer to autumn.
Apparently, it was on this basis that the popular omen associated with Samson was formed.
But why is the weather expected to remain constant for exactly forty days after Samson's day? Let's try to figure it out.
Let us assume that the interval B falls on Samson, when, as already mentioned, an anticyclone is usually established. Midsummer, the high standing of the Sun - all this contributes to the establishment of excellent summer weather.
Then the Moon goes to the southern hemisphere, and after 13.65 days a period of "low moon" begins with cyclonic weather transformations. But they turn out to be weakened, because they are opposed by both the formed background synoptic situation and the still persisting summer solar situation.
Then the next interval B comes (it falls on the first ten days of August), and the weather, even if it has slightly deteriorated in the previous interval, becomes good again. In the second half of August, the next interval begins. And here the summer weather for the first time begins to really deteriorate, recalling the approach of autumn.
Now let's count how many days of good weather there were after Samson. This is 27.32 days between two intervals B (the first of them coincided with Samson) and another 13.65 days - the transition from B to H (in August), that is, 40-41 days. Therefore, we can think that 40 days of unchanged weather after Samson were introduced into the popular omen on the basis of the observed regularity of the moon's motion. It is possible that this sign came from those distant times when our ancestors lived according to the lunar calendar.
We will count the same 40 days if we assume that the interval H coincides with Samson. In this case, in the next interval of the "high moon", anticyclonic weather transformations may be slightly weakened. Then, in the first ten days of August, there will be an interval of "low moon" and the weather will be bad.
Only in mid-August, during the second interval B, the weather will not deteriorate, but, on the contrary, will improve. Thus, a 40-day period with mostly bad weather will come to an end.
A more detailed analysis of the situation shows that if the period of the "low moon" coincides with Samson, then we should most likely not expect the same bad weather as it was on Samson's day, but that the weather will be variable, unstable, changing in accordance with with the cycles of the declination of the moon. In general, when Samson coincides with the "low moon", the forecast of the weather according to popular belief is less accurate than when Samson coincides with the interval B.
Thus, not only a physical justification is provided for the popular omen, but also an opportunity to improve it appears. Previously, to predict the weather for 40 days following the Samson holiday, you had to wait for that day and see what the weather would be like. Now, the weather forecast for 40 summer days can be foreseen in advance, for as many years ahead, you just need to calculate which intervals of lunar declinations coincide with Samson.
In the same way, it is possible to predict the date of blooming of bird cherry and the arrival of the "associated" cold snap. You just need to know whether April was cold or warm and whether the bird cherry is ready to release its flowers after the first May interval of the "high moon". If not ready, then it will bloom only in the second May interval V.
Many other folk signs of the weather, it turns out, are also associated with the cycles of lunar declinations. For example, on January 19, a church holiday is celebrated - Epiphany. The sign associated with this day says: "If there is a blizzard, the same will happen at Shrovetide. If there are strong winds from the south, it will be a terrible summer." And now it turns out, and this sign can be justified.
A blizzard, especially with strong southerly winds, is likely to be expected on Epiphany if this day falls on interval N. The next next interval H, also favorable for blizzards, will come in 27-28 days, that is, just on Shrovetide (11- February 16).
Now let's see how all this can be linked with the prediction of a summer with thunderstorms. If the day of Epiphany falls on the interval of the "low moon", then it is easy to calculate that Samson's day will be 2-3 days before the beginning of interval B. And this is the best situation for the formation of very good, warm, sometimes hot weather with thunderstorms, showers, hail , that is, "there will be a terrible summer."
Sources of information:
1. text "Samson's day and the weather for the summer" - magazine "Science and Life" (No. 6, 1991)
2.photo - Skywatching.ru
High and Low Moon
site - "Observer"
22-07-2007
In summer, the full moon above the horizon walks low above the horizon. Sometimes it is difficult to see it behind trees and buildings.
Everyone knows that the phase of the moon changes from day to day. A narrow crescent moon appeared in the evening sky in its western part, which in less than a week will turn into exactly half. Another week will pass, and the full moon will shine in the night sky. After about seven days, only half of the full moon will again remain, after which the phase will continue to decrease, and now the thin month of the moon is already shining in the morning sky, meeting the dawn. But, perhaps, only an observant person can notice that the height of the moon changes from month to month with different phases. So, on long and cold winter nights, the full moon rises high above the horizon, while on short summer nights it illuminates the sky from the south, passing at such a low altitude above the horizon that it is sometimes impossible to see it behind tall city buildings. The growing moon rises high-high above the horizon until the first quarter in spring, but walks low in autumn. With the aging (waning) moon, the opposite is true. What is the reason for this difference in the height of the moon above the horizon, depending on the phase and month?
The fact that the Sun goes low above the horizon in winter and goes high in summer is a phenomenon familiar to each of us and is explained by the fact that the daylight against the background of the celestial sphere moves in a large circle called the ecliptic. The ecliptic is inclined to the plane of the celestial equator at an angle of 23.5 °, therefore, between the points of the summer and winter solstices, the declination of the Sun varies from + 23.5 ° to –23.5 °. From these data, it is easy to calculate the midday height of the Sun on June 21 (summer solstice) and December 22 (winter solstice), using the formula h \u003d 90 ° - the latitude of the observation site + the declination of the Sun. For Moscow (latitude + 56 °) we get 57.5 ° for June 21, and only 10.5 ° for December 22.
As for the Moon, it, like other planets of the solar system, moves against the background of the zodiacal constellations, i.e., roughly speaking, along the ecliptic. But if the moon followed exactly on the ecliptic, then every new moon we could observe solar eclipses, and every full moon the moon would fall into the earth's shadow, and we would see a lunar eclipse. However, in reality, the Moon deviates from the ecliptic to the north, then to the south by 5 °, or about ten of its angular diameters. In this case, the moon crosses the ecliptic only at two points. And the point after which the Moon rises above the ecliptic is called the ascending node, and the opposite point is called the descending node. It is clear that the maximum deviation to the north or south of the moon reaches 90 ° from each node. It is easy to guess that if the ascending node of the lunar orbit coincides with the vernal equinox, then the maximum northern distance from the ecliptic the moon will reach above the northernmost point of the ecliptic. Then the maximum height of the Moon will be equal to h \u003d 90 ° - the geographical latitude of the observation site is + 23.5 ° + 5 °. For Moscow we get 62.5 °. In this case, the descending node of the lunar orbit coincides with the point of the autumnal equinox, therefore, the Moon will deviate by a maximum angle south of the southernmost part of the ecliptic, i.e. this will be a very low Moon: h \u003d 90 ° - the geographical latitude of the observation site - 23.5 ° - 5 °. \u003d 5.5 ° for the latitude of Moscow. But the nodes of the lunar orbit are not stationary, but move along the ecliptic towards the Moon (i.e., from east to west), making a complete revolution in 18.61 years. It is worth noting that the last period of the highest and lowest Moon fell on 2005-2006. The next one will come in almost 19 years. And after 9.3 years, the ascending node of the lunar orbit will swap places with the descending one, i.e. the latter will coincide with the vernal equinox. In such a situation, the Moon, moving along the northernmost zodiac constellations (Taurus and Gemini), "will not reach" the maximum possible height of 10 degrees, because will be 5 ° south of the ecliptic. But when passing near the southernmost part of the ecliptic (constellations Ophiuchus and Sagittarius), the Moon will not seem as low as in the past two years. Its height will be 10 degrees higher (5 ° north of the ecliptic). It is worth noting that the mobility of the nodes of the Moon's orbit gives us a series of very beautiful coatings of different stars. So, in these years, a series of coatings of the Pleiades stars continues - the brightest open star cluster.
We have considered the extreme positions of the Moon relative to the ecliptic and, therefore, the horizon. Now let's answer the question: why every year the summer full moons are so low, and the winter ones are so high, the spring first quarter walks high, and the last one is low, etc. As you know, the first quarter occurs when the Moon in the sky moves away from the Sun at an angle of 90 ° to the east, the full moon occurs at a distance of 180 ° (opposition), and the last quarter - at a distance of 270 °. From here it is easy to guess why the Moon goes so low on summer full moons, because the Sun moves along the constellations of Taurus, Gemini, Cancer and Leo, therefore, the full Moon, at an angle of 180 ° from the Sun, will shine against the background of stars of such southern constellations as Scorpio , Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Capricorn, which rise to low altitudes in mid-latitudes. But in winter, the Sun passes through these southern constellations, and therefore the full Moon shines high against the background of Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. Likewise with the first / last quarters. It is known that the older the moon (the closer to the new moon), the later it rises. In summer, when the ecliptic is tilted to the horizon at a low angle, in the days following the full moon, the waning moon rises every evening just 10-15 minutes later. But in winter, when the ecliptic has a large slope to the horizon, after a full moon, the moon rises every day about 1.5 hours later. Therefore, summer and the first half of autumn are ideal times for observing the aging moon, and the second half of winter and spring are ideal for observing the young moon. For example, in early spring the Moon sets below the horizon in the first quarter only in the second half of the night, and on autumn evenings in the same phase the Moon sets below the horizon 2 hours before midnight.
Astronomy beginners can try to observe the movement of the nodes of the lunar orbit from simple observations. You don't need a telescope or even binoculars. Using the proposed map of the zodiac belt, every clear evening, mark the position of the moon relative to the stars on the map. After making a series of observations over several months, you will be able to notice that each subsequent month the Moon will pass against the background of the starry sky along a different path from the previous one. A good illustration of the answer to the question: why the positions of the moon are not plotted on the maps of the starry sky, is it?
