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| We had a rare fog-free view from sunrise to sunset on 8/20, the day of the Blue Supermoon. |
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| One of the effects of having a fog-free evening is the "firelight" show that takes place in the spooky confines of the dense eucalyptus forest that covers this part of Mt. Sutro. The show is better in real life because the orange "flames" flicker as the trees sway in the breeze. Should that forest ever catch fire for real -- especially on a windy day -- damage to the city would likely rival the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. (The orange lights are caused by the sunset reflecting in the windows of houses behind the trees.) |
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| Here's what the reflections look like on windows not blocked by the forest. This is a composite image of a supermoon and a sunset that took place on March 14, 2014. IRL, the moon came up too far to the right of the frame to be in the shot. Ten years later, this view no longer exists due to the growing forest. |
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| I was surprised to learn that last night's supermoon (shot here with the FZ80) was also a blue moon. I hadn't known that more than one kind of blue moon exists. The kind I was familiar with occurs when there are two full moons in the same month. But the blue moon can also be the third full moon in a season (e.g., summer) that has four full moons instead of the usual three. But why, you may ask, isn't the first, second, or fourth moon the blue one? Turns out it must be the third one, "Because only then will the names of the other full Moons, such as the Moon Before Yule and the Moon After Yule, fall at the proper times relative to the solstices and equinoxes." Got it? |
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