The full moon knowledge

Here we begin our little journey to the full moon. A few words about the fascinating quest of the greater purpose, that includes the full moon circulating through our lives. In layman’s terms and not always scientific (astronomy experts – don’t look too closely!). We would like to wish you illuminating moments. Enjoy!

How do you define a full moon?

A full moon is when the Sun and the Moon are facing opposite, being in opposite direction from an Earth perspective.

This might feel astonishing if one imagines that the Moon is on one side, the Sun on the other and the Earth in between? Shouldn’t the Earth throw a shadow onto the Moon? Bingo – this is exactly what she does! But only when the Moon is exactly on the Earth orbit, the so called “ecliptic”. When this takes place, we speak of a lunar eclipse!

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How long is the interval between two full moons?

The Moon needs 27.33 days to circle around the Earth. Something that is also referred to as “sidereal time”. But because the Earth orbits the Sun, just like the Moon orbits the Earth, the Moon has to travel two further days in order to resume the same position to the Earth and Sun. This is then called the “sidereal time”. In order to determine the point of time of the reoccurring full moon, the sidereal time serves as basis.

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When is full moon in Europe, Asia or America?

The answer is: “everywhere at the same time”. This refers to the so called Universal Time (UT) though, which is used for general astronomical events. We have already learnt that full moon is an astronomical event, where the moon, sun and the earth play a role by being in a specific position. So, full moon takes place at a specific time in the outer space. This point of time is specified by astronomers namely by the Universal Time.

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How long is the full moon?

There are multiple ways of approaching this question. If we look at it from a purely theoretical standpoint, we might be tempted to say that the full moon is infinitely short, since the phases of the moon are changing continuously. The moon is not yet quite full shortly before the full moon, and is already waning shortly afterwards.

However, there is a practical aspect that lets us quantify the full moon as a finite and measurable span of time: Since the Sun is significantly bigger than the Moon, its rays are able to reach just a little over half of the Moon’s surface. This means that the timespan in which the visible side of the Moon’s surface is irradiated (as seen from Earth) is longer than infinitely short.

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And is it all the full moon’s fault?

Whether scientists, astrologers or esoterics, they agree on one thing: the moon influences earth and life on earth. For instance, it regulates the tides through its magnetism. Also continents feel the consequence of this magnetism and either raise or lower their position sometimes up to 26 cm.

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Sex and the full moon?

In nature it is a known fact: for some animal species, mating takes place at full moon. However, the examples that can be found on this subject are rather simple. Full moon serves in some cases indirectly as the cause (for instance through the high water levels during the tides that the horseshoe crab uses to deposit its eggs) or also as the signal for both sexes of a species to begin at the exact same time to safeguard their future existence (a particular type of fly or also corals). It is understood that also wolves are led by full moon when it is time to mate.

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It is said …

… that people are looking for an argument at full moon or are especially happy …

… that if full moon is surrounded by a haze, a person dies …

… that you raise your hat three times to the moon (being a man) or you make a curtsey (being a woman), in order to protect yourself from misfortune until the next full moon …

… that whoever does not chink glasses with full moon at least once, does not deserve any happiness [Greek toast] …

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Information about a lunar eclipse

Easily explained

During a lunar eclipse, the Moon moves through the shadow of the Earth. Which means, that the Earth is positioned quite exactly between the Sun and Moon and casts its shadow onto the Moon. This is only possible at full moon and if some other requirements are met. Depending on whether the moon passes the partial or the core shadow of the Earth, we speak of a partial or total lunar eclipse.

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More births at full moon?

It is often said that more children are born at full moon. Meanwhile, many different studies have shown this not to be the case.

An American study from the years 1997–2001, can probably be referred to as a very popular example that investigated the influence of the moon cycle on births. The study was conducted with an impressive amount of 564,039 births and took place over a period of 62 moon cycles. Not only full moon, but also all other phases of the moon cycle were observed with the result that there is no verifiable correlation:

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The song »Fly Me To The Moon«

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The jazz classic »Fly Me To The Moon«, originally written by Bart Howard in 1954, gained worldwide fame through Frank Sinatra (1915–1998). His version from 1964 accompanied the space mission Apollo 10 to the Moon in May of 1969, and was played when the spaceship orbited the Moon. Further, it was the first song ever that was played on the Moon, when Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the Moon with a portable cassette player during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

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»Wau Bulan« – the moon-kite of Malaysia

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As already mentioned before, the Moon assumes a special status in Asia as well. There are a few important festivals, which are closely connected to the Moon, like for example the Moon Festival and the Lantern Festival in China, or many celebrations in Buddhism and Hinduism.

In Malaysia, in South East Asia, there is a traditional kite called  »wau bulan«, whereas »wau« stands for kite and »bulan« for the Moon. The kite got its name because of its moon crescent-shaped lower part. When you fly this kite, it supposed to remind of the rising Moon.

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The »Void Of Course« Moon (VOC)

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The terminology »void of course« Moon (VOC), refers to a specific duration of time in astrology, during the Moon’s passage through the signs of the zodiac. To this, the basic conditions are created by the so called »aspects« of the Moon, which refers to its connection to other planets in the sky. For example, when the Moon and another planet are opposite to each other, it is called »opposition«. Further important aspects are »conjunctions« (next to each other), »square« (angular distance 90°), »trine« (120°) and »sextile« (60°). So when the Moon passes through a zodiac, various of these aspects surface. After approximately 2.5 days, the Moon changes into the next zodiacal sign, to create new aspects again. The phase between the last aspect in the current zodiac and the transition to the next zodiac is called »void of course / VOC«. The length of this void of course can take anything from two minutes up to two days.

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Between scepticism and mysticism

There is a wide spectrum of views and opinions about how the moon may influence human life and it is in the very nature of things, that these opinions lead to discussions. During the course of the years, we got acquainted with many different viewpoints and are trying to give room to these diversities on these pages.

Let’s imagine two people for example, a sceptic, who analyses sensibly and critically, and a mystic who allows his actions to be guided by faith and dedication. Let’s have both people answer the question, whether principally, full moon has an effect on human beings.

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“Moonrise, New Mexico” by Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902–1984) was one of the most influential photographers in the US, who particularly became famous for his magnificent black and white photography of American landscapes and national parks. He is the role model of many photographers  and set standards with his shots. And as chance would have it, one of his most renowned photographs is an image with the rising Moon in New Mexico.

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The full moon in romantic painting

Towards the end of the 18th century, over 200 years ago, Germany was about to be conquered by a new style of painting: the romanticism. The objective was, just as we understand it today, to emphasise feelings. But it was much more than this …

It was about the self-conception of an entire generation of artists, poets and musicians, who were trying to oppose the, up until then, reigning reason of the enlightenment era and also the classicism that was concerned with order. They countered with irrational contents i.e. fantasy, infinity or transcendency. It was what Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) expressed about the artist in general at a much later point in time: “The fortune of an artist is the possibility, to express longing in forms.”

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Meteoroid impact on the Moon

Just recently, NASA found out, during an examination of video material, that a relatively large explosion took place on the Moon on 17th March 2013, caused by the impact of a meteoroid. This was an approximately 15 inches large and 88 pounds heavy chunk, which hit the Moon’s surface with 56,000 mph. The explosive power is equivalent to 5 tons of TNT. The flash of light which lit up during the impact in the »Mare Imbrium«, was so bright that it was visible with the naked eye from Earth.

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Moon influences hunting behaviour of lions

Lions mostly hunt in the dark, as predators have more of an advantage if it is as dark as possible. Hence, the moonlight is a disturbing factor, because it makes the predators easily detectable by their prey. And when the full moon is actually in the sky, it then so happens, that the lions occasionally come away empty-handed. Thus commences a time at full moon (and shortly before), where the lions begin to starve and hence their urge to hunt increases.

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The origin of the Moon

The Moon has not always been there. And although, no one has been present to observe its creation, scientists today, largely share the view that our Moon originates from a collision between Earth and another planet 4.5 billion years ago.

Our Earth – that looked completely different to how we know it to be today – had been circling with the planet Theia, which was about the size of our Mars, around the Sun. Some day, these two orbs clashed, produced an inconceivably powerful collision that totally destroyed Theia and catapulted an enormous amount of rocks into the orbit of Earth.

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