The Full Moon of 2021

Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.

January 1 is 2022.
See the explanation. Clicking on the picture will bring you to the download page.
The highest resolution version is available.

The moon is full in 2021.
The image is copyrighted by Soumyadeep Mukherjee.

Every Full Moon of 2021, a year-long project, features a portrait of the familiar lunar nearside at each bright lunar phase. The year begins in stripes at the top. The stripes are from Full Moon images taken with the same camera and lens. The Full Moon's size changes throughout the year depending on its distance from India, but the stripes still looked odd. Each stripe has a full moon name, distance in kilometers, and angular size. The size is given in minutes of arcs. There is a Full Moon in May. The most distant Full Moon in December is the smallest. The full moons of May and November were also in the shadow of the Earth during the two lunar eclipses of 2021.

Tomorrow's picture is bright moon halos.

Robert Nemiroff is an author and Jerry Bonnell is an editor.
Phillip Newman has specific rights.
NASA has a privacy policy on the internet.
There is a service at NASA.
& Michigan Tech. U.

Page 2

Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.

January 2, 2022.
The featured image was taken in Spain in 2012 and shows four halo arcs around the Moon.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

The lunar halo is over Winter Road.
The image is copyrighted by Dani Caxete.

Falling ice crystals can cause arcs and halos around the Sun or Moon. There was a bright Moon and four rare lunar halos in the sky on a Saturday night in Madrid, Spain in 2012 The moon is the most visible object in the featured image. Light from the Moon is reflected through hexagonal ice crystals into a halo around the Moon. The 22-degree arcs are circumscribed by ice column ice crystals. It's rare to see a third rainbow-like Arc 46 degrees from the Moon and it's even more rare to see it above a picturesque winter landscape. It is also possible to see a part of a 46-degree circular halo. There is a famous winter skyscape that is visible between the inner and outer arcs. If you see a halo or arcs, you should invite your family, friends or neighbors to view it.

The picture is of the moonscape.

Robert Nemiroff is an author and Jerry Bonnell is an editor.
Phillip Newman has specific rights.
NASA has a privacy policy on the internet.
There is a service at NASA.
& Michigan Tech. U.