Beautiful Moondance: A moving visualization of how we see our moon.

This visualization represents a South-Up view of our Moon as it orbits our planet.
Included in the video are other smaller graphics that are very helpful in understanding why we see what we are seeing. There is a distance meter, which helps explain why the moon appears larger and smaller as it orbits.
In the upper left there is a representation of the Earth-Moon system, which shows direction of solar illumination, or in effect, the seasons of our orbit around the sun. The music is good too!


Here it is with all the extra explanatory graphics.



Here is is a version with just the moon, and the music.


And here we have a link to other versions of the video, and explanations of what you are seeing.
Plus there are links to each individual frame that was used in the video.
Moon Phase and Libration

Thanks for this! I've always had a love affair with the moon...I'll never forget the first time I looked at it through a telescope...it took my breath away. I looked at it for hours, admiring every detail that my little 'scope showed me...it was a truly awe-inspiring view.

Originally posted by LobeDethFaurt
Thanks for this! I've always had a love affair with the moon...I'll never forget the first time I looked at it through a telescope...it took my breath away. I looked at it for hours, admiring every detail that my little 'scope showed me...it was a truly awe-inspiring view.

Yes, I know what you mean. In the past, I was constantly "wasting" film on the moon. Now I have digital. So I can just "waste time" shooting the moon. Ha!...I too remember seeing it for the first time with a little magnification.
It doesn't take much to see that there are mountains, craters, shadows. It really is another world. And we've been there...(At least, I believe as most others do, that we have walked there).

reply to post by spacedoubt


Thanks for the great video! I love the moon and starts. I love how some nights it looks as if you can reach up an actually touch it. Again, thank you!

reply to post by Martin75



You're welcome!
I enjoyed this video particularly because it is a visual representation that answers some of the commonly asked questions about the moon. Why does it look bigger sometimes? Why is it better to look at the moon with a telescope when it's NOT full? Does the moon have a Dark side?

wow..

just awesome..

thanks!

that was a great video, and the music was fine too.
but i think this would have been a better choice.

Just to put this up here before someone claims it as evidence that the "wet moon" is not normal, it's important to note that the video shows the changing lunar phase and libration, but not field rotation. Field rotation depends on the observer's location, so for the sake of showing a location-neutral video about the moon's annual motion it is typically not depicted. Instead, they simply show what the moon would look like from a geocentric perspective, not a topocentric perspective. This spreadsheet calculates the apparent orientation of the moon relative to the horizon for a given location and time, including the effect of field rotation (it also gives you the topocentric lunar and solar coordinates and phase angle as well as the apparent lunar and solar diameter and solar eclipse info if any is occurring at your location).
dropcanvas.com...

Supermoon Bump.
Enjoy the Big Bad moon!

If you start the Video at about 2:20, you can see the supermoon as it comes into Full phase during it's close approach.