                 APOD: 2017 November 5 - A Year of Full Moons

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2017 November 5
                                      [2]
                            A Year of Full Moons
                 Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Talha Zia [4]

Explanation: Do all full moons look the same? No. To see the slight
differences, consider this grid of twelve full moons. From upper left to lower
right, the images represent every lunation [5] from 2016 November through 2017
October, as imaged from Pakistan [6] . The consecutive full moon [7] s are all
shown at the same scale [8] , so unlike the famous Moon Illusion [9] , the
change in apparent size seen here is real. The change is caused by the
variation [10]  in lunar distance due to the Moon's significantly non-circular
orbit [11] . The dark notch at the bottom of the full moon of 2017 August is
the shadow of the Earth [12]  -- making this a partial lunar eclipse [13] .
Besides the sometimes exaggerated coloring, a subtler change in appearance can
also be noticed on close examination, as the Moon [14] seems to wobble
slightly from one full moon to the next. This effect, known as libration [15]
, is more dramatic and easier to see in this lunation video [16] highlighting
all of the ways that the Moon appears [17] to change over a month (moon-th
[18] ).

                  Tomorrow's picture: jet source imaged [19]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [31] (MTU [32] ) & Jerry Bonnell [33]
                                  (UMCP [34] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [35] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [36]
              A service of: ASD [37]  at NASA [38]  / GSFC [39]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [40]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1711/YearOfMoons_Zia_5800.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] mailto: talhazia .dot. petromer @at@ gmail .dot. com
  [5] ap120205.html
  [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan
  [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon
  [8] ap061228.html
  [9] ap031011.html
  [10] http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_ap_per.html
  [11]
https://blogs.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/193/2013/05/
1015198main_Moon_perigee_550.jpg
  [12] ap170601.html
  [13] ap170809.html
  [14] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/moon
  [15] http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smoon4.htm
  [16] ap120205.html
  [17] https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4537
  [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_month
  [19] ap171106.html
  [20] ap171104.html
  [21] archivepix.html
  [22] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [23] lib/aptree.html
  [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [25] calendar/allyears.html
  [26] /apod.rss
  [27] lib/edlinks.html
  [28] lib/about_apod.html
  [29] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=171105
  [30] ap171106.html
  [31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [33] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [34] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [35] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [36] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [37] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [38] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [40] http://www.mtu.edu/
