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December Full Moon Cruise
Howdy folks, I was wondering about the timing of the December Blue moon full moon cruise. Heretofore I was thinking it should go down the night of the 31st but now it occurs to me that that would technically be 2010, thus negating the 'blue moon'. According to Our Fair Government, the full moon occurs in Austin at 1:14 pm, Dec. 31st. Therefore, a ride on the night of the 30th (morning of the 31st) would be closer to the full moon time. Plus, the Full Moon transit is at exactly 12:01am, December 31st. You can't really get better timing than that. Seeming how there will be plenty of partying going on the evening of the 31st (and mostly before the cruise would start), perhaps we should do this thing Wednesday night? And then ride again thursday night too? Either way, I will be out on my bike both nights, I just wanted to toss this out there.
Love,
Kevin
U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department
Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Austin, Travis County, Texas (longitude W97.7, latitude N30.3):
Thursday
31 December 2009 Central Standard Time
SUN
Begin civil twilight 7:01 a.m.
Sunrise 7:27 a.m.
Sun transit 12:34 p.m.
Sunset 5:41 p.m.
End civil twilight 6:07 p.m.
MOON
Moonrise 4:38 p.m. on preceding day
Moon transit 12:01 a.m.
Moonset 7:21 a.m.
Moonrise 5:48 p.m.
Moonset 8:15 a.m. on following day
Full Moon on 31 December 2009 at 1:14 p.m. Central Standard Time.
1/1 Friday night 11:59p is first choice.
12/30 Wednesday night 11:59p is second.
12/31 Thursday New Years Eve I'll leave the road to the amateur drunk drivers.
New Years Eve will have more than its fair share of once-a-year drunk drivers. They're more dangerous than the pros who're out drinking every weekend.
But don't count my vote. I'm not going to be able to make it no matter what.
--
robbo
I'm just sayin' I like Kevin's thinkin' about two consecutive days of madness. (Besides, I've also got other shit to do on the night of 31 Dec).
We've been doing these rides on the evening before the "official" full moon for quite a while and the same reason Kevin mentioned -- to be riding when the moon is actually the most full -- why change it to the High Times date this time just around just to ride after the ball drops?
... is Dec 31st. Full moon happens at Dec 31st at 1:15pm CST. That's closer to 11:59pm 12/31 than 11:59pm 12/30.
(Granted, it's pretty close to a wash, but Dec 31st wins by a hair if you're after the fullest possible moon ...)
Moving the ride for other reasons is fine with me (as long as it's decided well in advance)-- but if you're going for maximum fullness, you're probably better off with 12/31 11:59pm, though the advantage is pretty small.
Transit is when the moon is closest to directly overhead for your area. Since it's almost a full moon, which means that the moon is almost directly opposite from the moon, the sun will transit at approximately noon (it always does -- the `approximately' comes from how close you are to the middle of your time zone), and so the moon will transit at approximately midnight (assuming no DST) every time. And yes -- the moon will transit 12:01am the Dec 31st -- but it'll also transit at 1:04am the next day (when we'd be riding.)
Full Moon is when the moon is the most illuminated. On Dec 31st, it will happen at 1:15pm CST. So riding at 01/01 12:30am makes the fullest moon people happy *and* the High Times followers happy.
(Yes, I'm a geek.)
Ultimately, the ride should be Dec 31st. You could go to a party Dec 31st, kiss somebody at midnight, then bike on down to the bridge (bring them, of course) ...
I'm certain, that evening. I'm jus sayin, 3am december 31st is closer to the full moon than 1201am January 1st, plus it still gets in under the blue moon heading, plus there are going to be beaucoup plus events going on on the 'eve, including the Thursday night social ride. Anyway I talked to Whiteside tonight so I will leave it in his very capable hands. I was just looking for a good excuse to have two awesome nights in a row. Which I will, whatever ends up happening.