Moonrise and the shadow of Mauna Kea taken at sunset this
evening from the summit. January's full moon is called the wolf
moon, a name that can be traced back to native American Indians
who described the moon after the packs of hungry wolves that
would howl outside their villages at this time of year. This
year's wolf moon is also the largest and brightest full moon of
2010. The apparent size of the moon depends on where it is in
its orbit around the earth. Since the orbit isn't circular but
elliptical, there's a point at which it is closest to the earth
(perigee) and of course a point where it is furthest from the
earth (apogee). When a full moon just happens to occur around
perigee, as it is tonight, the full moon appears larger and
brighter. Tonight also sees some pretty spectacular action from
the US army at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) between Mauna
Kea and Mauna Loa. After waking up this afternoon I took a
stroll outside at Hale Pohaku and could hear machine gun fire,
jet aircraft, artillery and bo