The moon and its conspiracy phases

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. J.F. Kennedy 25 May 1961

Please note that this is not about the moon landing conspiracy. This is a photo blog – my first since the Weekly Photo Challenge ran out of super nova fuel and is not circling planet WordPress anymore. This is an independent photo post (I always wanted to say that) i.e. not linked to any photo challenge by another party, alien or human. Hopefully I will not alienate myself with this decision. But the decision will be reviewed. 

Moon rising over Cape Town, South Africa, taken from Lions Head. The dark area to the right is Table Mountain and to the left, the Atlantic ocean filling up Cape Town harbour

⇑ Coincidentally I took this photo of the full moon on the 25th of May 2016 at 7:39 am, exactly 55 years after J.F. Kennedy addressed the American Congress to convince them to provide funding for sending a man to the moon. Now the attentive observer may want to inform me that:

1. It could not have been taken in the day as the sky is obviously dark
2. And that full in the context of the moon actually means round.

1.   The moon unlike the earth does not have an atmosphere. It is the particles in atmosphere reflecting the sun-rays giving the daylight sky its blue hue. The atmosphere “Scatters the Light”.  In the absence of this scattering the sky around the moon (any area in space outside the earth’s atmosphere) is dark. The camera lens zooms out of the earth’s atmosphere, hence the dark sky around the moon. Nature photographers should appreciate earth as there is no orange hue sunsets or rises in space. No photos of diving eagles contrasted with the blue sky. On the bright side, you can have firework displays in daytime… (provided you attach a miniature oxygen tank to each firework).

2.  Questioning if the photo is of a full moon? Have you also fallen for the moon phase conspiracy?  The moon is always full. If it appears as any other shape, it is because your view is skewed.  Skew: make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading. That piece of rock is always in the shape of a ball. It certainly does not change shape. Yes our view of it changes due to its rotation around the earth and the earth’s rotation around the sun, but the man on the moon always have a round ball to kick around. This specific skewed view is known as: waning gibbous moon (becoming smaller but bigger than a half moon)⇑

A traditional “full” view of the moon. Taken while sun is setting thus, the orange colour. A favourite of space mice

The South African pop group Ballyhoo had a hit in 1980 by wondering if their is a man on the moon

My heart turns my mind into circles
As I lie here all alone in my bed
The moon shines brightly through my window
And I wonder if it’s true what they say
That there’s a man…
A man on the moon

I can’t judge a book by its cover
And all that glitters is not gold, so I’m told
Will I retain my love once the beauty’s gone
Who will lead me to the heart of the sun?
Where to shall I run?
Man on the moon

It is with great pleasure that due to extensive research I can announce today that there is indeed a man on the moon driving an off-road motorcycle round and round. Unfortunately  He is probably too busy with midlife crises activities to give attention to Ballyhoo’s question.  (Link to audio of song)

Waxing crescent moon (becoming bigger, but smaller than a half moon)

 

⇑Nature called while staying with friends and I answered it’s call with this photograph. The photo was taken at Bakoven, Campsbay a very prestigious residential area in South Africa. But the moon reflects the same amount of light regardless of where you live. It is not impressed or intimidated by your neighbourhood.  I believe that that God’s love for us is always complete. His love is always full. My experience of the love can be skewed  by my perception of my “place” in this world (fulfillment or absence thereof emotional needs, pain or even egotism – the list is unending). But none of this can exclude me (us) from the complete and full love of God. Sometimes I experience His love in abundant full moon with orange glow to boot and sometimes my view of  the moon is skewed and I do not experience it at all, but even then God’s love is full and complete.

In the context of the moon not discriminating regarding where we live:

Gone is the distinction between Jew and Greek, slave and free man, male and female—you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, you are true descendants of Abraham, you are true heirs of his promise. Galatians 3:28,29

In the context of the moon always being full:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38.39

 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you! Isaiah 49: 14,15

In the context of my view being skewed due to my perceptions of God:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8,9