What is a “Moonbow”?

30 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            The light of the sun makes rainbows.  The light of the moon makes moonbows.  The basic principle at work in a rainbow and moonbow are the same.  Really small droplets of water in a really moist -- almost cloudy --- sky split (or “refract”) the white light of the sun or moon into the colors of a rainbow or a moonbow. 

True Moonbow captured by Jo Bradford

            Rainbows are common.  But moonbows are rare because the moon isn’t nearly as bright as the sun.  In perfect conditions, it takes all the sunlight reflected by a full moon to make a moonbow.  Even then, the low light of the moon may not be able to make a rainbow of colors, but only a faint white arch.

            If a moonbow appears at all, it will always be faint.  And moonbows always appear in the opposite side of the sky from the moon.  “Moonbow” isn’t the only name given to rainbows made by moonlight.  Sometimes, a moonbow is called a lunar rainbow, black rainbow, white rainbow, lunar bow, or space rainbow.  At least, this is what a “true” moonbow is called.  There are also “false” moonbows.

            What are these mysterious things appearing in the sky and pretending to be moonbows?  Well, a "false" moonbow is formed when the moisture in the air isn’t natural, but geological.

            What does that mean?

            If the moisture that makes the moonbow doesn’t come from natural weather conditions, it's a "false" moonbow.  So, if the spray, mist or fog that makes the moonbow is from from a waterfall, the moonbow is a “false" one.  “False” moonbows are easy to photograph because they are almost always visible at certain places such as Yosemite Falls in California, Cumberland Falls in Kentucky, and Victoria Falls in Africa.

"False" Moonbow

Victoria Falls by Calvin Bradshaw

            There’s a way to tell if a moonbow is “false.”  Watch and see what happens after the moon sets, and the sun rises.  If the arching band of colors is always there – day or night -- it’s “false."  After the moon sets, the moonbow fades away.  But the mist from a large waterfall is always there.  So, as soon as the sun rises, a rainbow will appear.  Well, actually, a “false” rainbow will appear.  The sun picks up where the moon left and off.   But when made by the mist of a large waterfall, both the nighttime moonbow and daytime rainbow are “false.”

"False" Moonbow at lower Yosemite Falls

by Brocken Inaglory

            By the way, true moonbows are rare and hard to photograph.  So, there aren’t so many pictures of true moonbows.  But “false” moonbows are a lot easier to find and predict.  So, again, most photographs are of "false" moonbows.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

What is a “Moon Tan”?

29 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            A “moon tan” is supposed to be something like a suntan.  But the “moon tan” comes only from the light of the moon.

            Is there such a thing as a moon tan? 

            Well, I would so hate the spoil the mystery.  I’m tempted not to say anything. 

            Some say that the Moon doesn't reflect all types of the sun’s light.  So, when you get a tan, it comes from the sun’s ultraviolet light.  If the moon doesn't reflect ultraviolet light, then you couldn't get a tan from the moon.  Some don't agree, but it seems that the moon does reflect some ultraviolet light.

See: Yahoo Answers – “Is there such a thing as a moon tan?”

            The real problem with a “moon tan” is that the moon reflects so very little of the sun’s light.  On the moon’s brightest day of year, it reflects much, much less that 1/1,000th of the light from the sun on the sun’s dimmest day of the year.  So, there just isn't enough ultraviolet in moonlight to give you a tan.  

            Unless someone develops a technology to collect moonbeams and focus them on people, we may never know.  Of course, with all the interest in energy from the sun, who would bother with the moon?

            Richard and Monica Chapin of Tucson, Arizona would.  They have built a “moon beam collector.”  But the “jury is still out” on what effects it has on people, places, or things.

See: Moonstruck flock to Arizona light collector

            In the meantime, The Urban Dictionary may have the best solution to the mystery of the “moon tan.”  The dictionary lists “moon tan” as a sarcastic term referring to someone so pasty white that he or she looks like they've never been anywhere near the sun. 

            Examples: “Nice moon tan.”  - or -  “How ya do’in, Moon Tan?”

The Urban Dictionary: “moon tan”

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
29 September 2014
About the Author

What is “The Far Side of the Moon”?

25 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            Maybe one of the strangest facts about our moon is its rotation.  For example, the Earth orbits around the Sun about every 365 days – a year.  On the other hand, the Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours – a day.  But our Moon takes about 27 days to orbit once around the earth.  How long does it take to Moon to rotate on its axis?  Again, about 27 days.  The Moon’s “year” and the Moon’s “day” are exactly the same.  A remarkable coincidence.

            But this remarkable coincidence produces a remarkable effect.  If you were on the Moon, you’d experience one slow day and one slow night every 27 earth-days.  But if you watch the Moon from the Earth, the Moon doesn't seem to rotate at all.  Since it’s always been that way, most of us don’t notice that, when you watch from the Earth, you always see the same side of the Moon.  Only one side.  Viewed from the Earth, you never see “the far side of the Moon.” 

The Far Side of the Moon

            Over the centuries, the far side of the Moon developed quite an air of mystery.  You could imagine anything to be there. 

            In the early 1950’s, George Adamski, the owner of a café near California's Mt. Palomar Observatory, reported receiving visits from outer space aliens.  Looking and dressing like us, the aliens would stop by his café to chat.  Adamski also reported taking several trips into outer space with his alien friends in their flying saucer.  He closely observed the far side of the Moon and reported that it supported a large civilization and population.  He even brought back “moon potatoes,” which reportedly looked like rocks.

            But, Adamski’s claims came into question, in 1959, when the Soviet Luna 3 space probe circled the Moon taking photographs.  The resulting atlas, published in 1960, included precise details of the topography of the (no longer) mysterious far side of the Moon.  In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts became the first humans to view the far side of the Moon directly.  (No signs of life, civilization, or potato farms were to be seen.) 

            The far side of the Moon used to be called “The Dark Side of the Moon.”  This phrase was accurate enough if the speaker meant to refer to the side of the Moon that was “dark” in the sense of being unknown to viewers on Earth.  But the problem with the name was that the “dark” side of the Moon wasn't always dark.  During half of the 27 earth-days it takes the Moon to complete one of its own days, the so-called dark side is, in some part, sunlit.

            So, the side of the Moon we can never see from the Earth is, now, called “the far side of the Moon.”  But, the phrase “dark side of the Moon” is, now, used to mean the half of the Moon that is actually dark at any particular moment. 

            So, for example, at the “New Moon” phase, the Moon can’t be seen from the Earth because the side facing the Earth isn't sunlit.  At that time, the side of the Moon facing the earth would be “the dark side of the moon.” At the Full Moon phase, the entire visible face of the Moon is sunlit.  So, with the Full Moon,“the dark side of the moon” would also be the far side of the Moon.   

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
About the Author

What is “The Man in the Moon”?

23 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

Traditional Face of "The Man in the Moon"

Traditionally, there is said to be a human face visible on the face of the Full Moon seen in the night sky. After many ages of meteor strikes, the moon’s surface is irregular creating many light and dark areas. Ii is said that if you look at the face of the Full Moon in just the right way, you will see the face of “The Man in the Moon.”

“Looked at in just the right way”?

Yes. Since the beginning of time people and, most often, artists have noticed that if you look at a group of random shapes, your mind will often “recognize” the image of something in the shapes. The renaissance artist, Leonardo da Vinci, explains in his journal how a person can, sometimes, see figures and scenes just by relaxing and looking at water stains on a wall.

This natural human tendency was used by Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach to develop a famous psychological test using inkblots. Using a set randomly shaped ink blots, the patient is asked what each shape reminds them of. Often, the images “seen” by individual patients are believed to refer to the patient’s mood or mental state.

A pareidolic image is the technical term for an image you or I might “recognize” in a billowy white cloud in the sky . . . or . . . getting back to our subject, on the face of the moon.

The Woman in the Moon?

But “The Man in the Moon” wasn’t always a face. In old traditions, “The Man in the Moon” was seen as a figure walking across the moon. Sometimes, the “Man” crossing the moon wasn’t a man, but a woman. Sometimes, the figure on the moon was seen as a rabbit.

 

                                                      The Rabbit on the Moon?

In Norse mythology, Máni, a male moon god is said to cross the sky in a carriage. In Chinese mythology, the goddess Chang'e is stranded on the moon with a few rabbits.  (Rabbits?)   Anyway, a Talmudic tradition says that an image of Jacob is engraved on the moon.

Naturally, legends grew up about how “The Man in the Moon” (either a face or figure) got there. In Christian Europe, the story was told of a man who was banished to the moon for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. In Germany, the man was banished to the moon for stealing bushes from a neighbor’s border hedge to repair gaps in his own.

By the European Middle Ages, “The Man in the Moon” was Cain of the Cain and Abel story. Cain, it was supposed, was doomed to circle the Earth forever for his biblical crime.

In later Europe, the importance of the crime and criminal faded a bit. “The Man in the Moon" suffered from . . . a tendency to drink a bit to much and was called the god of drunkards. Capitalizing on “The Man in the Moon’s” new image as a heavy drinker, numerous English taverns adopted the name or variations of the name “The Man in the Moon.

A couple of final notes.

Not to be left out, people in the Southern Hemisphere have their own, different, version of “The Man in the Moon.”

Why different?

The Moon circles around the middle of the earth. So, if you are in the United States, the moon in the evening sky is never directly above your head but crosses the sky to your south. But, if you went to Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, the moon would cross the sky to your north – making the moon appear to be upside down. Of course, if an Australian came to the U.S., they’d say the Northern Hemisphere's moon was upside down.

“The Man in the Moon” has been a popular name in the arts given to no less than three films and a number of popular songs.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
About the Author

What is a “Moon Gate”?

18 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            A part of traditional Chinese architecture, the Moon Gate is a kind of garden gate.  A Moon Gate is a circular opening in a garden wall onto a path leading through a large garden.

 Moon Gate Saint Louis Botanical Garden

            The Chinese Moon Gate is a “study” in itself.  The “gate” is more than just a part of building design.  The shape and even the tiles used to build and decorate the Moon Gate have meanings.  The upper “round” shape of the top of the Moon Gate symbolizes the “half moon” of the Chinese summers.  Every tile used to decorate the gate has a traditional spiritual meaning.  Even the shapes of the tiles have a spiritual significance.  Then, the tiles are often decorated with Chinese symbols intended to bring luck, happiness, and good fortune.

Moon Gate

            The size of the Moon Gate and its place in a large garden wall assured that only the very wealthy had the money to build such gates.  You had to be fairly well off to even afford a walled garden of the necessary size.  Because of their rarity, these gates might have stayed a beautiful, but almost hidden, part of Chinese culture.

Moon Gate

            But in the 19th century, the British began importing Japanese Easter lilies for gardens in England and other British territorial possessions, including Bermuda.  It isn’t clear whether or not the Asian flavor of the lilies caused Bermuda garden designers to look to China for inspiration.  But, the Chinese Moon Gate suddenly appeared in garden designs in Bermuda. 

Bermuda Style Moon Gate

            Unlike the Chinese original, the Bermuda version of the Moon Gate is freestanding or attached to only a low wall.  The Bermuda gate hasn’t the rich cultural significance the Chinese version of the gate.  But, Bermuda newlyweds are said to enjoy good luck after stepping through a Moon Gate.

Bermuda Moon Gate

            The classic Moon Gate design is also used in small bridges over canals and watercourses.

Moon Bridge

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
18 September 2014
About the Author

What is "Moonshine"?

18 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            “Moonshine” is an alcoholic beverage.  I thought it was an illegally distilled liquor produced in the hill country of southern America.  But I was surprised to find out that almost every country in the world has “Moonshine.”  The United States probably has one moonshine-related claim to fame. 

            The name.  The name “Moonshine” was first used in America to describe the American version of a liquor that is illegally-distilled in the dark of the night. 

            American moonshine is also called white lightning, mountain dew, or white whiskey.  Made with corn mash, moonshine has an unusually high alcohol content – with alcohol levels of about 50%.  And, of course, moonshine is produced and sold illegally.

            Prohibition is remembered for period of a little over a decade in which the manufacture and sale of alcohol was illegal in the United States.  But, through history, individual “dry” states and “dry” counties have had blanket restrictions on alcohol sales. 

            Even locations in which the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was legal, high taxes often made the legal product twice as expensive as the illegal moonshine.  With sales restrictions and taxes opening “niches” for an illegal market, moonshine has, and is still, produced in the United States.

            While nighttime production led to the name moonshine.  The use of the words, “white” and “dew” refer this liquor’s clear color.  The term “lightning” refers to the speed of production.  Distillation is done very quickly and the finished product is promptly packaged in canning or Mason jars.  Special procedures such as the “aging,” done in more cultivated distilling processes, are skipped in the production of moonshine.

            Even with relatively high taxes, reduced prices and fewer restrictions on sales have cut into the market for illegal moonshine.  Also, the illegal moonshine customer would do well to know his or her producer.  Casual and make-shift distilling processes and equipment have given illegal moonshine a less than good reputation for safety -- with impurities occasionally producing toxic effects. 

            Historically, wooden distilling equipment could result in a product with a significant amount of toxic menthol (wood) alcohol.  Hence, the friendly warning by the moonshine-serving host: “It’ll blind ya, Boy.”  And, sometimes, it did.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
16 September 2014
About the Author

What is a “Moon Pie”?

11 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            If you don’t know what a moon pie is, you might want to pay a visit to your local fast food store and browse their snack isle. A MoonPie is made by sandwiching a layer of marshmallow between 2 round graham cracker cookies.  Then, you, dip the sandwich in a flavored coating – usually chocolate. 

            The resulting confection is about 4 inches wide and comes in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and banana flavors.  Later, the Double Decker MoonPie added another layer of marshmellow and another graham cracker cookie.  Then, the mini MoonPie, which is only about 2 inches wide.  And, finally, the MoonPie Crunch is available in peanut butter and mint flavors.

            The popularity of the MoonPie is regional, so a few readers may have never eaten one.  But, rest assured, the experience is no farther away than the snack isle of your local quick shop or grocery store.

            What is the mysterious connection between this confection and the Moon?  Well, Earl Mitchell, Jr., owner of the Chattanooga Bakery, where MoonPies are made tells the story.   In 1917, his father asked a Kentucky coal miner what kind of snack he’d like to eat.  The miner said that something with both graham crackers and marshmallows would be great -- as long as the final product was dipped in chocolate. 

            The father followed with the final question.  “How big should I make it?”  The coal miner said nothing but, looking up at the sky, framed the full moon with his fingers.  The rest is snack-making history.

            From these humble beginnings, the MoonPie has become deeply embedded in American culture.  At some point, the habit of eating a lunch composed of an RC Cola and a MoonPie became common in some parts of the country.  This inexpensive snack/lunch became famous after being featured as the theme in two popular songs. 

            And, since 2008, how do they celebrate the coming of the New Year in Mobile, Alabama?  By raising (not dropping!) a 12 foot tall lighted moon pie.  And what do the celebrants eat.  You guessed it.  The city has the world’s largest – 55 pound – moon pie baked to feed the crowd.

            Not to be stopped, the MoonPie became a traditional Mardi Gras “throw” (item thrown from parade floats into the crowd) in Mobile, Alabama since 1956.  And the moon pie’s place in Marti Gras parades has spread along the Gulf Coast and made substantial in-roads -- even into Louisiana, but not as far as New Orleans . . . yet.

            Around the world, the MoonPie has also become the traditional snack food eaten at aerospace worker celebrations commemorating the July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 moon walk.

            In fact, the MoonPie is such a success that it’s inspired a host of imitators.  In the U.S. the "Scooter Pie" and “Mallomars” are similar products.  In the UK, Australia and Canada, there are “Wagon Wheels.”  Japan has “Angel Pies.”  South Korean has “Choco Pies.”  A Mexican company makes “Mamut” pies.  Even Turkey has “Halley” pies.  All thinly-disguised “knock-off”s” of the famous, popular and, even, iconic MoonPie.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
11 September 2014
About the Author

What is a “Moon Cake”?

9 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            The “Moon Cake” story begins with the Mid-Autumn Festival held within 15 days of the first day of autumn (“autumnal equinox”).  This festival is celebrated by the Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese.

Mooncake

            Mooncakes are considered one the foods of choice during this fall festival traditionally associated with lunar worship and, now, at least, with moon watching.  When groups of friends and families gather together, during the festival, mooncakes are served and exchanged.

Mooncake

            A moon cake has a delicate pastry skin containing a tasty, sweat filling of some kind.  Traditionally, the filling was made of whole salted egg yolks as symbols of the full moon.  These cakes are almost always baked, but occasionally may be steamed or fried.

Mooncake

            The moon cake has an imprint on the top – usually a Chinese character meaning either “longevity” or “harmony.”  Around the character, small representations of the moon, flowers, vines or rabbits may appear together with the name of the producing bakery.  Maybe these symbols or “writing” explain why the mooncake occasionally enters Chinese history as a secret from of communication and have, actually, been used to smuggle secret messages during times of political unrest

            Few make mooncakes at home.  The mooncake is considered a delicacy and even at the lowest prices, each 1.5 inch thick and 4 inch wide mooncake sells for a about $2.50.  And the cost can rise as high as $12,50 a cake.  Of course, the giving and serving of mooncakes became such a socially popular custom, in modern times, that a “high end” market developed.  And I do mean “high end.”  Replicas of mooncakes made out of gold are reasonably popular gifts in well-healed circles. 

            But you can guess that, as mooncakes became popular, in modern times, the mooncake changed to meet changing market demands.  Now, there are miniature mooncakes, fat-free mooncakes, high-fiber low-sugar mooncakes and mass (rather than bakery) produced mooncakes sold in airtight plastic packages.

Mooncake

            And, then, there are the fillings.  Traditional Chinese fillings are still available, but they’ve been joined by flavors like coffee, chocolate, nuts, prunes, pineapples, melons, sweet potatoes, ham, chocolate, ice cream and cream cheese. 

Mooncake

            And remember those high-end (and high-priced) mooncakes?  Well, there’s also a thriving market for much more expensive mooncakes filled with pricey abalone, shark fin, champagne ganache, malt whisky, truffles, or caviar.  

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
9 September 2014
About the Author

What is a “Singing Moon”?

4 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            When the Full Moon suddenly bursts into song? No, nothing like that.  And, if the Moon could sing, who’s to say it could carry a tune.

            The “Singing Full Moon” comes in September according to old Celtic tradition.  The “Singing Moon” is more than just the Singing Full Moon.  The “Singing Moon” is a period of time, (about a month long), which begins with the New Moon before the September Full Moon and ends with the next New Moon after the September Full Moon.

            But what’s with the “singing?”  I can’t quite be sure.  The “singing” may refer to songs sung by the people celebrating when the fall harvest was done.  Or, the singing may refer to songs sung during the harvest as the people worked in the fields.  Of course, people may have sung both during and after the harvest.

            The Celtic tradition is so old, no one can be absolutely certain when or where the harvesters were singing – during or after the harvest.  In fact, a lot of Celtic history is lost to us.  What history we do have comes to us through traditions and traditional stories handed down over generations.

            The people called the Celts lived throughout Europe, but spoke a common language.  During the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a cultural movement swept the British Isles.  Called the Celtic Movement, it produced so much art and literature that the term Celtic is, now, often associated with the British Isles.

            Historical references to singing in the fields date back to the time of Shakespeare. And one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tempest, includes a “Reapers Dance.”  The Golden Bough describes the custom of English harvesters to decorate the last sheaf of grain with ribbons and flowers.  The decorated sheaf was brought from the fields in the last cart while the harvesters sang.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
4 September 2014
About the Author

What is a “Moon Melon”?

2 September 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            The late-comedian George Carlin once noted that there is no “blue food.”  Sensing a potential challenge, he went on to explain that blueberries were really purple and not blue.  I don’t agree, but will concede the blueberries do have enough purple to take them out of the pure blue category.  Lemons are yellow.  Limes are green.  Oranges are orange.  But blueberries are a kind of blue-purple color.  So, the world continued to wait for the discovery of the first true-blue food.

The Japanese Moonmelon

            Then, in 2011, the wait ended with the arrival of the Japanese Moonmelon.  This melon looked almost exactly like a watermelon.  Only, where the watermelon was pink, the moonmelon was a deep dark blue.  This beautiful fruit had more than good looks.  It also tasted good.  But there was even more.

            The moonmelon seemed to be the perfect party fruit because of its miraculous “flavor-switching” quality.  What is flavor-switching?  Well, the moonmelon’s sweet taste was always the same.  But one taste of the moonmelon would change the taste of whatever food you ate next.  Sour foods, like lemons or vinegar, would taste sweet.  A salty snack would taste bitter.  Just plain water would taste orange-flavored. 

            How had this stunningly delicious and entertaining fruit stayed hidden for so long?  Well, it was easy to keep the moonmelon a secret because it didn’t really exist.  Someone had doctored a photo to make a plain old pink watermelon look blue.  Then, the wonderful taste and flavor switching qualities of the mythical fruit were made-up as well.

            Hoax or not, the moonmelon made quite an impression.  After its first appearance and “unmasking” in 2011, the moonmelon hoax kept coming back to life.  In 2014, the moonmelon, again, created a stir with the stunning appearance of the “altered” photos and the description of “flavor switching.”

            As Molly McHugh of The Daily Dot put it, the moon melon is, by far, “the most popular fruit that doesn't actually exist.”

See also:

A history of Moonmelon, the most popular fruit that doesn't actually exist

Is ‘Moon Melon’ Real Blue Watermelon ‘Asidus’ Fruit Goes Viral On Pinterest And Twitter

Moon Melon snopes.com

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
(& Belleville, Illinois)
2 September 2014
About the Author