I've been a moon watcher for a long time. With Lake Superior so close I try and take advantage of the wide open view and distant horizon to watch the full moon rise each month. From Duluth, Minnesota we face east across the lake, making moonrises easy to come by.
I've seen far fewer moonsets. There are just too many trees and hills in that direction. I stood next to a 73-year-old woman at a recent full moonrise who relished the sight.
To the surprise of us both it was her first moonrise. Of course, she'd seen the moon plenty of times before but had never deliberately gone out to watch it rise. We talked about the pleasure of willfully devoting one's attention to the ordinary and how it can open our eyes.
Moonrises are fun because they combine the pleasure of anticipation followed by the sight of something singularly beautiful and colorful. They can surprise as well. Due to changing atmospheric conditions the moon may shine in a host of different hues — smoky red, bright orange, watermelon and honey yellow — and assume different shapes.
Atmospheric refraction is reason the rising moon appears out of round. Refraction — the bending of light — occurs near the horizon because our line of sight passes strictly through the lowest part of the atmosphere where air density is greatest. Thick air near the horizon mimics a prism and bends light upward, raising the bottom half of the moon into the top half, giving it a squashed appearance like a squeezed ballon.
As the moon rises.
