Howllo Fellow Basset hound and full moon lovers….

No, not these full moons but the one in the sky!

This is Chaps and Emma trying to beat each other out the door to get a glimpse. OK, OK, Emma can’t see but she just wants to be a part of it!

If you’re a fan of the moon and Mars, tonight’s a twofer: You’ll see the biggest, brightest full moon of the year, and Mars will appear at its biggest and brightest in the past 780 days.

Friday’s moon will be 30 percent brighter and 14 percent wider than a full moon at the opposite time of year.

The reasons: The moon traces an elliptical orbit around Earth, and tonight Ol’ Luna will be at its closest point with respect to Earth; and Mars will be in opposition — opposite the sun when viewed from Earth, and thus as close to the third rock from the sun as it ever gets. (No, it will never, ever not even close look as big as the full moon.) However, if you want a comparison, astronomers say the red planet will appear nearly as bright as Sirius, the star with the highest apparent brightness in the night sky.

Tonight’s spectacular is the full Wolf moon, a name given by Native American Nations. (Don’t tell your hound, it might be too hard to get him/her back in after a nocturnal walk.)

Last night the moon was of course almost full and appeared to have a halo, but according to our local weather person this effect was ice crystals.

Pretty huh? It is so dang cold but I will still try to view the bright moon tonight. I hope I can see it. I am pretty jazzed.

More full moons later……

I can’t help myself!

Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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