People always advise their friends and family to get up and watch the sunrise. That’s a great idea, because experiencing the world early in the morning when she’s waking up can be a magical and inspiring experience, but don’t neglect the full moon.
You get 365 chances each year to get up and watch Father Sun, in russet mantle clad, climb yon Eastward hill, but Mother Moon only grows fat once a month, so the next time you know she’ll be full, grab a telescope, some binoculars, or a person you love and head out into the back yard for a look.
Discover more from WIL WHEATON dot NET
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I don’t look to the sky nearly enough as I should.
If more people really looked at the sky at night, we’d be out there right now. In person. A pity that city-dwellers (including me) can’t see much of the night sky anymore.
Hi Wil:
The moon is a wonderful sight in a small telescope or binoculars. But it’s even better in crescent phase than when full. You get lots more contrast and shadows in the view. Jupiter is really nice right now too, toward the SE in the evening.
Dude, you just called her fat. She’s gonna kick your ass.
Dear Wil,
I am in the Army so I am fortunate enough to get to see the sunrise M-F as we are working out. It is a beautiful sight and it surely makes me forget about some of the sweat and pain!
I get to see the sunrise almost every day because I start work at 5am. I love the full moon and catch that as often as I can. Sometimes I just marvel at the sky as I drive to work in the morning. I only wish I lived near my brother in Flagstaff. I never knew there were so many stars until the first time I visited him.
murgadroid knows something about amateur astronomy. I would also recommend viewing the moon through an instrument at dusk instead of complete dark. Easier on the eyes. Fun moon fact: it rises 50 or so minutes later each night.
Dude, you should be, like, a writer or something.
🙂
Complete agreement. The full moon, even in all it’s crazy making power, holds a sense of awe.
I completely agree. The full moon the other night was absolutely beautiful.
Wil, not to rain on your parade or anything, but keep in mind that you should not observe a full moon for extended periods of time through a telescope with any power or you will risk eye damage.
When the moon was last full I had the wonderful experience of finally seeing the ‘rabbit on the moon’. It was very exciting.
It also appeared very close to Jupiter in the night time sky. Even with a small telescope it was a great night of viewing.
Here’s a tidbit a hard rocker like you will enjoy. Did you know the moon is metal? Not metal like the iron or steel but metal like Sabbath, Anthrax, Ozzy, etc….. Your Buzznet pic of the moment reminded me. Each night the moon rises 20 minutes later. This is apporx the distance from the outside edge of your index finger to the outside edge of your pinky when “throwing the goat” if they are kept parallel to each other, not spread out. Rock on!
I have a four-month-old son. I’m bloody sick and tired of seeing sunrises; I miss being woken up by sunlight through the bedroom window, not the screams of a hungry baby.
I live in one of the most unique places on the planet.
From my driveway, looking towards the east, I have an unobstructed view of 40 miles of salt flats. It’s one of the few spots on land that you can look out and see the curve of the earth. In the summer it looks like fresh snow.
Sunrises, where I live, are completely amazing. When driving towards my town, on the flats in the evening, the sunsets are even more breathtaking.
And people say my town is desolate…
You forgot to add “grab a telescope and filter”
Remember, I think it was Gallileo who went blind from using his newly improved telescope. Without a filter looking at the moon is almost (though not quite) as dangerous as looking at the sun. The part that makes it more dangerous is that you don’t KNOW it is, and therefore you spend more time looking than you would at the sun…
Best place to watch a moonrise: On the beach
2nd best place: The grandstand/bleachers on the front straighaway at Charlotte (I hate Lowes) Motor Speedway. A couple years ago the Harvest(?) fullmoon rose over the CocaCola 600, directly across from me. As I watched it rise, everything else just fell away. The (amazingly loud) roar of dozens of passing stockcars were barely a dull buzz in my mind. It was incredible. Even though the moon was red as it rose, I hesitate to call it a harvest, as it states that those usually come in the fall. If it had been the October race, thatd be a different thing altogether, but im pretty sure it was the May one.