First Previous Next

Subj: Mooning your way out of the Millennium
Date: 1999-12-14 22:21


Everyone should mark their calendars this month for the "Last Lunar 
Hurrah" of the Millennium:
   
This year will be the first full moon to occur on the winter solstice,  
December 22, commonly called the  first day of winter.  Since a full 
moon on the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with a lunar perigee 
(point in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth)  the moon will 
appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's 
elliptical orbit that is farthest from the Earth).  Since the Earth is 
also several million miles closer to the sun at this time of the year 
than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7% stronger, 
making it brighter.  Also, this will be the closest perigee of the Moon 
of the year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming.  If the 
weather is clear and there is a snow cover where you live (dream on, 
Floridians), it is believed that even car headlights will be 
superfluous.
   
On December 21st. 1866 the Lakota Sioux took advantage of this 
combination of occurrences and staged a devastating retaliatory ambush 
on soldiers in the Wyoming Territory.
   
In lay-mans terms it will be a super bright full moon, much more than 
the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years! Our ancestors 
133 years ago saw this.  Our descendents 100 or so years from now will 
see this again.
   
Enjoy!!!

P.S. - Admit it... you thought this message was gonna be something 
perverted, didn't you?   ;-)00=00=