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50 Things about the Moon....
1 The full moon is a lunar phase occurring when the moon is
on the opposite side of the earth from the sun and all three bodies are aligned in a straight line. Viewed from earth, the
near side of the moon is fully illuminated by the sun giving it the familiar circular appearance.
2 It is only during
a full moon that the dark side of the moon - the hemisphere on the opposite side to the sun - is completely dark.
3
Lunar eclipses - caused by the passage of the earth's shadow across the illuminated hemisphere - only occur during a full
moon. However, because of the angle of tilt of both bodies the moon normally passes either north or south of the earth's shadow.
4
The chances of being bitten by a dog are twice as high during a full moon, according to a study at Bradford Royal Infirmary,
which reviewed 1,621 cases of dog bite between 1997 and 1999. However, a study at the University of Sydney in Australia concluded
there was no identifiable relationship between the state of the moon and dog bites.
5 Gervaise of Tilbury, a 13th-century
canon lawyer, was the first to link the full moon with the transformation into a werewolf. Writing in his Otia Imperialia
he reports cases in the Auvergne, below. The philosopher Gottfried Leibniz described the popular work as a "bagful of foolish
old woman's tales".
6 The full moon occurs every 29.5 days - the duration of one complete lunar cycle.
7 The
female menstrual cycle has long been linked to the full phase of the moon. One theory is that prehistoric men were more likely
to go hunting during their womenfolk's period because of taboos associated with blood. The most profitable time to hunt was
during the full moon and the best way to convince the men to return with food was with the prospect of sex.
8 Neo-pagans,
including followers of Wicca, hold a monthly ritual based around the full moon called an Esbat. The term has been linked to
the writings of the controversial anthropologist Margaret Murray.
9 The second full moon occurring within a calendar
month is called a Blue Moon. The latest was seen on 31st May 2007. Far from being a rare event this phenomenon occurs once
every three years on average.
10 "Blue Moon", which was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, became
a standard ballad and was recorded by singers such as Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan. The most famous version was recorded by
the doo-wapp band the Marcels, above, in 1961, selling more than one million copies.
11 The world's tidal ranges are
at their maximum during the full moon when the sun, earth and moon are in line. Sailors know the effect as the spring tide
- a reference to the leap in the water level rather than the season of the year.
12 The only month that can occur without
a full moon is February.
13 Farmers refer to the harvest moon, the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, which
normally occurs in September. It is also called the elk calling moon or the wine moon.
14 A full Moon is considered
unlucky if it occurs on a Sunday but lucky on Monday or moon day
15 According to superstition a male child is more
likely to be conceived at full moon.
16 In October 1939 in Springfield, Missouri, the full moon appeared to fall from
the sky. The event was reported in the local newspaper but was later revealed to be a plunging weather balloon.
17
The Gregorian calendar dates Easter as the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon - the first to occur after the
vernal equinox. It is also known as the egg moon.
18 The Chinese Lantern Festival, dating back to the Han dynasty,
is staged on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month after the new year. Chinese communities celebrate across the world by lighting
lanterns and feasting on glutinous rice.
19 The Lunar Society, which included Erasmus Darwin, James Watt and Josiah
Wedgewood, took its name from the practice of holding monthly meetings on the Monday nearest to the full moon. Members referred
to themselves as the Lunatics.
20 A three-month psychological study of 1,200 inmates at Armley jail in Leeds in 1998
showed a rise in violent incidents in the days either side of a full moon.
21 Scientists have long battled to explain
the "moon illusion" - whereby the full moon appears to be larger the closer it is to the horizon. The phenomenon is understood
to be caused by human perception rather than the magnifying effect of the earth's atmosphere.
22 Timber harvests in
South America and South-east Asia are avoided during the full moon because it causes the sap to rise in trees, which in turn
attracts deathwatch beetles which can devastate crops.
23 Thousands of revellers gather each month on the beach at
Koh Phangan in Thailand, below, to celebrate the full moon and dance the night away.
24 The native American Algonquin
tribes in New England give each full moon of the year a name such as the beaver moon, the sturgeon moon and the strawberry
moon.
25 The next full moon will occur on 30 June 2007.
26 The full moon may appear round, but is actually shaped
like an egg with the pointed end facing earth.
27 The dark spots on the full moon that create the nursery-rhyme man
in the moon image are actually basins filled up to five miles deep with basalt, a dense mineral. Other facial features are
actually "seas" of frozen lava and sharp, rugged mountains.
28 In China, the dark shadows forming the man in the full
moon are seen as a toad. The toad is considered one of the five poisons of yin. It is believed that eclipses occur when the
toad in the full moon tries to swallow the moon itself.
29 The Moonlight Sonata, by Ludwig von Beethoven, left, is
probably the most widely recognised classical work associated with the full moon. The name comes not from the composer but
from a critic who compared the piece to the effect of moonlight on Lake Lucerne.
30 The innuit of Greenland believe
the full moon is a hungry god, Anningan, who is intent on eating his sister, the sun goddess, Malina. Their cat-and-mouse
sibling chase follows the cycle of the day, with Malina rising as Anningan sets and the cycle of the moon, with the chase
waning when the moon is full.
31 The RAF used the moon to launch its first successful attack on a German city when
planes attacked Lubeck in 1942.
32 Wesak, the most important of the Buddhist festivals, left, is celebrated on the
full moon in May. It celebrates the Buddha's birthday and, for some Buddhists, also marks his birth and death.
33 The
full moon is the brightest object in the night sky. It has an apparent magnitude of -12.6 compared with the Sun's of -26.8.
34
The Slovakian psychiatrist Eugen Jonas created a method of birth control and fertility based on the full moon.
35 An
analysis of the birthdays of 4,256 babies born in a clinic in France found no relationship between the full moon and fertility.
36
A study by Tübingen University, Germany, claimed that police reports for 50 new and full moon cycles showed that the moon
is responsible for binge drinking.
37 A telescopic drawing of the full moon by the English mathematician Thomas Harriot,
right, from early August 1609, is the first on record and preceded the Italian physicist Galileo's study by several months.
38
Renaissance artists traditionally depicted the moon as a crescent rather than in its full phase.
39 The full moon is
said to be at perigee when it is full at the same moment its orbit brings it closest to the earth. However, the moon appears
imperceptibly brighter at this time.
40 The Great Moon Hoax of 1835, above, was perpetrated by Richard Adams Locke
for the New York Sun. His story claimed that the eminent scientist Sir John Hershel had spotted furry winged men resembling
bats on the surface of a full moon.
41 The full moon is at its highest altitude from the Earth during the winter seaaon.
42
Some insomnia sufferers claim to sleep worse during a full moon; although others say they sleep more soundly.
43 It
is a common misperception that the first Apollo landing occurred during a full moon. This did not occur until more than a
week later.
44 The moon is 10 times brighter when it is full than when it is in a quarter phase.
45 Pagans believe
the most mystical time at Stonehenge is when the full moon wanes leaving the earth to be reunited with her lover, the sun
at dawn.
46 The honeymoon is named after the full moon in June. As it fell between the planting and harvesting of crops
this was traditionally the best month to get married.
47 The oldest lunar calendar, showing the full moon was discovered
in caves at Lascaux in France. It dates back 15,000 years and marks the phases of the moon, with a series of dots depicting
the days in the cycle.
48 In 2001, the first test match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe had to be postponed by one day
due to new Siri Lankan government rule, which bans playing sport on a full moon.
49 The Californian grunion only spawns
on the three or four nights after the highest tide associated with each full moon. The fish come ashore to lay their eggs.
50
In a study of 1,000 tonsillectomy operations, 82 per cent of post-operative bleeding crises occurred nearer the full moon
than the new moon, according to the Journal of the Florida Medical Association.
~author unknown~
Just some interesting things I found...and some are outdated..
Enjoy
+++
John
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