Sunday, July 13, 2014

celestial meanderings

Saturday night, there was the first in a sequence of three"supermoons".  Scientists writing for the online publication NASA Science News indicate that "the scientific term for the phenomenon is 'perigee moon.'  Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee").  Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright."

Some photographers "major" in night photography - whether photographing man-made phenomenon or the sky - they do a majority of shooting at night.  I am not that kind of person and, as a general rule, don't do much night photography.  Thus, I am here to say I am lacking dramatic moon shots.  But the entire idea of celestial events made me think about our reaction to them as opposed to those of the people who came before us, including the ancestral Pueblo peoples at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico.

The supermoons that occurred in the period when Chaco was occupied - 850 and 1250 A. D. - were no doubt noticed, given the image below.  It is said to be a petroglyph of the super nova of 1054.  I dare say Chacoans were probably more aware of their surroundings than many in our tech-laden world.  





According to the National Park Service, the complexity and size of the buildings at Chaco are a testament to the "organization and engineering abilities" of the people who lived there.  The photograph below is of the back wall of Pueblo Bonito




Window at Talus House



The next "supermoon" will be on August 10.  Given the fact that Chaco has been designated as an official International Dark Sky Park, perhaps it would be a good idea to visit this amazing place next month.


until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

1 comment:

  1. These are marvelous shots of an amazing place. To me the star of the show is the petroglyph which gives us a glimpse of what the Chacoans saw more than a thousand years ago, Sure makes a guy want to be there August 10.

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