True full moon???

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o0jase0o

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Hi, A friend of mine mentioned to me that last night was a 'true' full that happens only once a year. I can't find any info on this anywhere. Can anyone help with information on this???<br /><br />Thanks.
 
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MeteorWayne

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Welcome to SPace.com!<br /><br />I don't really know what he is talking about. You'll have to find out what your friend means, because as far as I know nothing was special about that full moon. If you find out, please post the answer here, since I'm curious what was meant.<br /><br />If you wanted to be technical, the fullest moon is when there's a total lunar eclipse! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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drwayne

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I googled around a bit, and found some references to the "true" full moon being "when the moon is exactly opposite the sun in the sky".<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

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Hmmm, but it's sort of that way every month, and as I said, the only time it's truely exactly opposite the sun would be a lunar eclipse. To be more specific, a lunar eclipse where the moon passes exactly through the center of the umbra, which would be exceedingly rare.<br /><br />I'll google arould and see if I can find what you did, Wayne<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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lukman

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Full moon happens twice a month, what is the big deal? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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lukman

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is it? maybe, i am not very sure, at least not once in a year <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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rfoshaug

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There is a full moon every 29.531 days (roughly)... <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />As has been pointed out, if a "true full moon" meant that the Moon was exactly on the opposite part of the sky as the sun, there would have been a total lunar eclipse.<br /><br /><br />Fun fact of the day: Did you know that a solar eclipse technically speaking isn't an eclipse but an occultation? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <br /><br />A lunar eclipse however is a true eclipse. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>
 
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lukman

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cool, even there are things we dont known from the simpliest things like moon, full moon, eclipse. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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weeman

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Congrats on Comet-hood Lukman <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Anyways, if we want to get very specific with this topic, an actual full moon, only lasts a matter of seconds. Before and after that, it is either waxing or waning. Of course, when it's a few seconds past the full moon, and it begins its waning stage, we can't see it with the naked eye anyways <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

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It's an interesting experiment to see how close to the time of the full moon you can notice that it is not full. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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lukman

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Thanks Weeman, you did notice huh? after that it will be asteroid, then it will be what? full moon? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Speaking of moon, this is from wikipedia"<br /><br />"The Moon is in synchronous rotation about the Earth. In fact, most major moons in the solar system have synchronous rotation due to tidal locking.<br /><br />An unusual example, confirmed by MOST, is Tau Boötis, a star tidally locked by a planet. The tidal locking is almost certainly mutual" <br /><br />Question: What cause a tidal lock? and why our earth an is not tidal lock to the sun? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

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There's a pretty good discussion in Wikpedia here <br /><br />To summarize, it is caused by the torque applied by the more massive body on the tidal bulges of the less massive object.<br /><br />Because of the distances (and therefore bulges) involved, as well as the larger tranfer of torque between the earth-moon system, the Sun-earth system will take a very long time to reach such a state, possibly longer than the existance of the solar system. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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tony873004

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"It's an interesting experiment to see how close to the time of the full moon you can notice that it is not full."<br /><br />I tried this with a telescope. I did it on a night when the Moon was heading for eclipse. Several hours before the Moon touched the penumbra of Earth's shadow, the shadows on its surface became less noticable. But after a point, they refused to get any smaller, Rather, they rotated from the Moon's west limb, to its southern limb. I observed until about 1 hour prior to penumbral contact, and was convinced that even if I watched until umbral contact, that I would still see some shadows on the Moon's southern limb.<br /><br />Ever since then, I've been convinced that it is not possible to see a completely full moon from Earth. I take the term "full" to mean "fully illuminated", ie, no shadows visible on the surface of the Moon, either from its own releif, or the Earth' shadow. <br /><br />But with the naked eye, the Moon was indistinguishable from full for the entire evening.
 
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MeteorWayne

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I've found that I can detect the "before or past full" phase in less than18 hours. I refuse to look up my records since I don't want to bias future observations <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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tony873004

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"I've found that I can detect the "before or past full" phase in less than18 hours. I refuse to look up my records since I don't want to bias future observations "<br /><br />Was this naked-eye observing?
 
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MeteorWayne

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Yes.<br />I suspect it's less than 12 hours, BTW <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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