Shiny Harvest Full Moon Brightens Town of Aurora

Shiny Harvest Full Moon illuminated intensely from the sky above the Aurora. On days like that we should save energy and turn off all the outdoor lights - just an idea. Theoretically it was not a full moon when I took this photo or wrote this post. The full moon will actually occur today October 4th, 2009 at 2:10 am Eastern Daylight Time EDT. Unfortunately, not all of us stay that long at night to experience only a minute of the full moon - probably won't even see it or feel it. However, knowing me - never know, may be I will snap few pictures for my records. The Harvest Moon - yes each full moon has actually name - most of the time occurs closest to autumn, which is usually in September. This year the Harvest Moon is special because it happened in October, and next one will be in 2017.

Why Called a Harvest Moon? It is called a Harvest Moon because of the farming activity during that time. Farmers can work into the night using light from the full moon. I told you, if farmers can work in the moon light, we can do the same.

Moon In The News. Speaking of the moon, the latest and greatest news is - 'It's Official: Water Found on the Moon', an article by Andrea Thompson a Senior Writer from space.com. The quantities are very small, but you know its water - and water is life. But wait there is more. On October 9th, 2009 interesting event will be happening on the moon - deep impact. Now that we think that there is water on the moon, we need to prove it. Yes, we are going to hit the moon, shake it a bit and steal some water - like we don't have enough. Kidding aside, NASA's LCROSS mission (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) project revealed that:

'On the morning of October 9, at 4:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (11:30 Universal Time), the upper stage of a Centaur rocket will purposefully crash into the crater Cabeus near the south pole of the moon. Four minutes later, a second probe will fly through the dredged-up lunar debris and analyze the material for signs of water. This event is part of NASA's LCROSS mission (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) to look for water on the surface of the moon. Such water might supply future manned lunar expeditions with drinking water, and allow the fabrication of rocket fuel for missions further into the solar system.' - source NASA LCROSS web site.

Unfortunately note that the deep impact will not be seen from Aurora, Ontario, Canada. Everyone in the Eastern North America and Europe that is. A Harvest Moon would be ideal for that - oh well. In addition you probably need 12" telescope to see that 'spectacular event'.

Moon Photography. Even thought we here in Aurora will not be able to see the 'deep impact', you can still learn how to take photos of the moon. If you got camera with zoom lens and interested in the moon, here are simple tutorials I wrote in the past - 'How to Take Picture of the Moon - Digital Camera Tips and Guides'.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my short lesson on the Moon and my today's moon photo. When I took this photo the moon was shining over Superstore in Aurora on Bayview. Since I am a fanatic when comes to photographing moon - you will be seeing more photos in the future. In the mean time go out there and enjoy a beautifully illuminated Harvest Moon.