APOD: Super Moon vs Micro Moon (2012 Nov 29)

[Beyond]

One of the oldest written records of our Moon in a written form is found at Genesis 1:16 where this object is referred to as "the lesser luminary for dominating the night". I'm grateful that our lesser luminary exists and that its orbit is such that eclipses are so wonderfully varried.

Bruce

Please note correction.

It's a tough crowd Bruce

EGADS!! The Great Quotidian Quotationist left out 'one' word of the quote The Horror of it all How will we ever get over it
I know... Lets all give him 'one' of these--->

EDIT... Everyone just ignore this post!! I didn't realize that the post neufer quoted had been edited AFTER he quoted it. Sorry bout that neufer.
So now i get to have bad razzberry desert!

[retrogalaxy]

To me when i saw it yesterday, it was not "micro". The Moon was low in the sky at the close end of afternoon, it has a good contrast (or a better brightness for eyesight).

[BDanielMayfield]

It's a tough crowd Bruce

It is even so, FloridaMike, and greetings from the other side of the Gulf. Your friendly reply made it worth the flaming arrows.

Genesis only dates to a few hundred years BCE. There are Babylonian cuneiform tablets with astronomical data for the Moon that considerably predate that.

Chris, you have great credibility as an accurate source when it comes to astronomy. But Moses, the writer of Genesis who was educated in the court of an Egyptian Pharaoh is thought to have completed this book by about 1513 BCE, not a just "a few hundred years BCE", and he may very well have been compiling from earlier written records.

Bruce

[Chris Peterson]

Chris, you have great credibility as an accurate source when it comes to astronomy. But Moses, the writer of Genesis who was educated in the court of an Egyptian Pharaoh is thought to have completed this book by about 1513 BCE, not a just "a few hundred years BCE", and he may very well have been compiling from earlier written records.

Moses is not recognized as a historical figure, but rather a mythological one. Even if the character is based on an actual person, it is extremely unlikely that he would have been literate. Scholars call the writer of Genesis "the Yahwist", and date the book to somewhere between the 5th and 6th centuries BCE. Of course, the stories are certainly part of an oral tradition stretching much further back than that, but we are discussing writing here. There's little doubt that orally transmitted stories about the Moon extend to the earliest men.

[saturno2]

Super Moon and Micro Moon
Apogee and perigee
The aparent size of the Moon.
But beautiful forever

[DavidLeodis]

The image of the Super Moon on the left is dated May 5 2012 but May 6 2012 is given in the explanation for that Moon. I notice two others have queried this but there has been no response. I assume the difference might be due to local times, but the differing dates are still confusing. It would be helpful if, in addition to their date, the time (in Universal Time) that the two images of the Moon were taken had been given. I'm also amazed at just how quickly these images were used in an APOD, which does make me wonder what time that reported to have been taken on November 28 was taken. They are nice images though and illustrate the apparent size difference well.

[neufer]

Chris, you have great credibility as an accurate source when it comes to astronomy. But Moses, the writer of Genesis who was educated in the court of an Egyptian Pharaoh is thought to have completed this book by about 1513 BCE, not a just "a few hundred years BCE", and he may very well have been compiling from earlier written records.

Moses is not recognized as a historical figure, but rather a mythological one. Even if the character is based on an actual person, it is extremely unlikely that he would have been literate. Scholars call the writer of Genesis "the Yahwist", and date the book to somewhere between the 5th and 6th centuries BCE. Of course, the stories are certainly part of an oral tradition stretching much further back than that, but we are discussing writing here. There's little doubt that orally transmitted stories about the Moon extend to the earliest men.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

If the character is based on an Egyptian nobleman,
it's quite possible that he would have been literate:

<<Sigmund Freud, in his last book, Moses and Monotheism in 1939, postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to the monotheism of Akhenaten (ca. 1335 BC). Following a theory proposed by a contemporary biblical critic, Freud believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of patricidal guilt that has been at the heart of Judaism ever since. " Egyptian origin of Moses and of his message has received significant scholarly attention.>>

. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 78#p188532
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... es#p141760

[Chris Peterson]

If the character is based on an Egyptian nobleman,
it's quite possible that he would have been literate:

Possible, although by no means certain. The question of literacy in ancient Egypt is one of active scholarly research. It is likely that literacy was greatest in the bureaucratic classes, and much less so among the nobility. In a cultures where nobles utilize scribes (as in Egypt) it isn't uncommon to find a sort of semi-literacy: the ability to read, but limited writing skills.

In any case, however, the important point is that there's nothing to suggest that Moses even existed... and I'm quite sure that imaginary characters don't write anything!

[neufer]

I'm quite sure that imaginary characters don't write anything!

• THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER. [_As given in the original edition_.]
  
  The author of these Travels, Mr. Lemuel Gulliver, is my ancient and
  intimate friend; there is likewise some relation between us on the
  mother’s side. About three years ago, Mr. Gulliver growing weary of the
  concourse of curious people coming to him at his house in Redriff, made
  a small purchase of land, with a convenient house, near Newark, in
  Nottinghamshire, his native country; where he now lives retired,
  yet in good esteem among his neighbours.
  
  Although Mr. Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire, where his father
  dwelt, yet I have heard him say his family came from Oxfordshire;
  to confirm which, I have observed in the churchyard at Banbury in
  that county, several tombs and monuments of the Gullivers.
  
  Before he quitted Redriff, he left the custody of the following papers in
  my hands, with the liberty to dispose of them as I should think fit. I
  have carefully perused them three times. The style is very plain and
  simple; and the only fault I find is, that the author, after the manner
  of travellers, is a little too circumstantial. There is an air of truth
  apparent through the whole; and indeed the author was so distinguished
  for his veracity, that it became a sort of proverb among his neighbours
  at Redriff, when any one affirmed a thing, to say, it was as true as if
  Mr. Gulliver had spoken it.
  
  By the advice of several worthy persons, to whom, with the author’s
  permission, I communicated these papers, I now venture to send them
  into the world, hoping they may be, at least for some time, a better
  entertainment to our young noblemen, than the common scribbles of
  politics and party.
  
  This volume would have been at least twice as large, if I had not made
  bold to strike out innumerable passages relating to the winds and tides,
  as well as to the variations and bearings in the several voyages,
  together with the minute descriptions of the management of the ship
  in storms, in the style of sailors; likewise the account of longitudes and
  latitudes; wherein I have reason to apprehend, that Mr. Gulliver may
  be a little dissatisfied. But I was resolved to fit the work as much as
  possible to the general capacity of readers. However, if my own
  ignorance in sea affairs shall have led me to commit some mistakes, I
  alone am answerable for them. And if any traveller hath a curiosity to
  see the whole work at large, as it came from the hands of the author,
  I will be ready to gratify him.
  
  As for any further particulars relating to the author, the reader will
  receive satisfaction from the first pages of the book.

[Beyond]

In any case, however, the important point is that there's nothing to suggest that Moses even existed...

I'm sure he wished that was so, because of the hard time the Isrealites gave him.

[Chris Peterson]

In any case, however, the important point is that there's nothing to suggest that Moses even existed...

I'm sure he wished that was so, because of the hard time the Isrealites gave him. :mrgreen:

You mean, as opposed to the good times Pharaoh gave him...

[Beyond]

In any case, however, the important point is that there's nothing to suggest that Moses even existed...

I'm sure he wished that was so, because of the hard time the Isrealites gave him.

You mean, as opposed to the good times Pharaoh gave him...

Maybe... Maybe not... I don't remember much being said about his Egyptian time, and I'm tooo lazy to go look it up.

[Raven]

What a great picture of the two hurtling moons of Jasoom, a fine match in every way for the two hurtling moons of Barsoom (Thuria/Phobos and Cluros/Deimos)!

So... the big one's "Luna"... and the little one's what, "Fortuna"? ("... velut Luna...")

Should we presume anything complicated in the way of orbits, or instead a Lagrangian point -- perhaps with Fortuna at stable L4 or L5, a steady 60 degrees respectively ahead of or behind Luna?

The phases would be predictable. We'd get twice as many lunar eclipses, but no additional total solar eclipses, just some partials (umbrals); Luck would be a lady.

Tides, now, the peak tide (between the moons) would be much higher with two moons to draw it. Incoming or outgoing, Luna's would be the stronger, Fortuna's the gentler. Whether tides, like March, "come in like a lamb and out like a lion" or vice versa, depends on whether Fortuna leads or follows Luna.