Last Night's "Wolf Moon" was a Perigee Moon

Last night’s full moon was the biggest one of the year (by 14%) and also the brightest (by an impressive 30%).

The Moon’s remarkable luminosity sprung from its proximity–about 50,000 km closer to Earth than other full Moons of the year. This can happen because the Moon’s orbit is not a circle but an ellipse: diagram. Last night, the Moon was on the near side of the ellipse–a place astronomers call “perigee”–making it a big, bright perigee Moon.

The “Wolf Moon” designation applied to January full moons comes from Native American tradition, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. If you missed last night’s maximum, it will still be impressive tonight. Those experiencing cloudy weather can watch the movie “Moonstruck” instead.

Link. Via: Neatorama

Portrait of Iberian Wolf Wins Wildlife Photography Prize

Spanish photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez has won the 2009 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year award with his photo of an Iberian wolf leaping over a gate. He used an infrared camera trap to capture the moment.

Iberian wolves have been persecuted by people who see them as a threat to game and livestock and because of ignorance about the supposed danger they pose… In Spain, the population of Iberian wolves – a subspecies of the grey wolf – is thought to number 1000-2000 in the north, with a few tiny, isolated populations in the south… What José Luis hopes is that his picture, ’showing the wolf’s great agility and strength,’ becomes an image that shows just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud of this emblematic animal.

Link, where you can also access winning photographs in other categories. Via: Neatorama

Wolf Prints

Giclee, MUSEUM QUALITY FINE ART PRINTS
FROM THE ORIGINAL WOLF PAINTINGS
BY WILDLIFE ARTIST

TRUDY LEE ESTES
LINK