Earth and Space News: February 2018

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

First March Full Moon Friday, March 2, Opens Second 2018 Blue Moon Month

Summary: The first March full moon Friday, March 2, at 00:51 Coordinated Universal Time opens the second 2018 blue moon month.

Double blue moon year 2018 features two sets of same-month full moons, separated by full moonless February: EarthSky @earthskyscience via Twitter Feb. 7, 2018

The first March full moon Friday, March 2, at 00:51 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (Thursday, March 1, at 7:51 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) opens the second 2018 blue moon month, a phenomenon sparked by two full moons in January and none in February.

March’s second full moon closes the month. The blue moon takes place Saturday, March 31, at 12:37 GMT/UTC (8:37 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

The double blue moon year’s first blue moon happened Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 13:27 p.m. GMT/UTC (8:27 a.m. EST). January’s second full moon, known as a blue moon, was preceded by the month’s first full moon Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 02:24 GMT/UTC (Monday, Jan. 1, at 9:24 p.m. EST).

A blue moon makes a calendrical or a seasonal appearance. A calendrical blue moon requires the occurrence of two full moons within the same month. A seasonal blue moon describes the third of four full moons occurring within a single season of three months. Both of 2018’s blue moons meet the calendrical definition.

The double blue moon year’s first blue moon made a phenomenal appearance by participating in 2018’s first of two total lunar eclipses. The Jan. 31 blue moon total lunar eclipse also opened the year’s eclipse quintet that offers three partial solar eclipses in addition to 2018’s two total lunar eclipses.

The double blue moon year’s first blue moon also qualified as a supermoon. EarthSky Tonight lead writer Bruce McClure explains that the Jan. 31 super blue moon receives supermoon status through its moon-to-Earth center-to-center distance of 360,199 kilometers (approximately 223,817 miles). The term supermoon, coined by astrologer Richard Nolle, designates a new moon or full moon with a center-to-center distance of about 361,000 kilometers. The moon’s closeness to Earth gives the moon a noticeably larger-than-usual appearance.

January’s blue moon also closed a trio of successive full supermoons that began with Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017’s full moon supermoon. The December 2017 supermoon full moon’s center-to-center distance was 357,987 kilometers. January’s first full moon, Tuesday, Jan. 2, numbered as the trio’s second supermoon in occurrence, but as the trio’s largest, with a center-to-center distance of 356,846 kilometers.

March’s first full moon qualifies the month’s second full moon as a blue moon. Neither of March’s full moons participates in such noteworthy events as eclipses. Yet, their co-occurrence within the same month garners March’s status as a blue moon month and 2018’s stature as a double blue moon year.

March’s first full moon numbers as the third of three full moons occurring between December 2017’s solstice and March 2018’s equinox. The 2017 December solstice happened Thursday, Dec. 21, at 16:28 GMT/UTC (11:28 a.m. EST). January’s two full moons occurred as the first two full moons after the December solstice. December 2017’s solstice opened the Northern Hemisphere’s astronomical winter and the Southern Hemisphere’s astronomical spring.

The 2018 March equinox takes place Tuesday, March 20, at 16:15 UTC (12:15 p.m. EDT). March 2018’s equinox ushers in the Northern Hemisphere’s astronomical spring and the Southern Hemisphere’s astronomical winter.

March 2018’s second full moon, known as a blue moon, appears as the first of three full moons occurring between March 2018’s equinox and June 2018’s solstice. March’s blue moon is followed by the season’s second full moon Monday, April 30, at 00:58 GMT/UTC (Sunday, April 29, at 8:58 p.m. EDT). The season’s third of three full moons occurs Tuesday, May 29, at 14:20 GMT/UTC (10:20 a.m. EDT).

The takeaway for the first March full moon Friday, March 2, as opener for the second 2018 blue moon month is that March’s pair of full moons also frame the March equinox, marking seasonal passages in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

March 2018’s first full moon, Thursday, March 1, at 01:00 UTC (8 p.m. EST), nine minutes after onset of fullness: Ernie Wright (USRA lead visualizer), John Keller (NASA GSFC scientist), Noah Petro (NASA GSFC scientist) and David Ladd (USRA producer) via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Double blue moon year 2018 features two sets of same-month full moons, separated by full moonless February: EarthSky ‏@earthskyscience via Twitter Feb. 7, 2018, @ https://twitter.com/earthskyscience/status/961304597175455746

Espenak, Fred. “2018 Calendar of Astronomical Events Greenwich Mean Time.” Astro Pixels > Ephemeris.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2018gmt.html

Espenak, Fred. “Phases of the Moon: 2001 to 2100 Universal Time.” Astro Pixels > Ephemeris > Moon.
Available @ http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phases2001.html

Harper, David, and L.M. Stockman. “Once in a Blue Moon: The Double Blue Moon of 2018.” Obliquity > Interactive Astronomy.
Available @ https://www.obliquity.com/astro/blue2018.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Blue Moon Month January 2018 Opens New Year With Two Full Moons.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/blue-moon-month-january-2018-opens-new.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Super Blue Moon Wednesday, Jan. 31, Is First of Two 2018 Blue Moons.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/super-blue-moon-wednesday-jan-31-is_31.html

McClure, Bruce. “Equinox Sun Rises Due East, Sets Due West.” EarthSky > Tonight. March 20, 2018.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/equinox-sun-rises-due-east-and-sets-due-west

McClure, Bruce. “First of Month’s 2 Full Moons on March 1-2.” EarthSky > Tonight. March 1, 2018.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/first-of-months-2-full-moons-on-march-1-2

McClure, Bruce. “Year’s 2nd Blue Moon on March 31.” EarthSky > Tonight. March 31, 2018.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/years-2nd-blue-moon-on-march-31

McClure, Bruce, and Deborah Byrd. “Tonight . . . Nearly a Blue Moon.” EarthSky > Sky Archive/Tonight. May 20, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/how-often-do-four-full-moons-happen-in-the-same-season

McClure, Bruce, and Deborah Byrd. “When Is the Next Blue Moon?” EarthSky > Astronomy Essentials. Feb. 4, 2018.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

“Moon Phases March 2018.” Calendar-12.com > Moon Calendar > 2018.
Available @ https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2018/march

“When Is the Next Blue Moon?” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Moon.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/blue-moon.html

Monday, February 26, 2018

Madama Butterfly Is March 3, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The March 3, 2018, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Madama Butterfly by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini.

Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho sings her signature role in spring performances, including the March 3 Saturday matinee broadcast, of 2017-2018 Met Opera season's staging of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Feb. 20, 2018

Madama Butterfly, a three-act poignant opera about a hope-filled geisha by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924), is the March 3, 2018, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Italian librettists and playwrights Giuseppe Giacosa (Oct. 21, 1847-Sept. 1, 1906) and Luigi Illica (May 9, 1857-Dec. 16, 1919) wrote the Italian libretto. The duo previously collaborated on Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca.

The libretto’s literary source is a short story, Madame Butterfly, published in the January 1898 issue of Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine by American lawyer and writer John Luther Long (Jan. 1, 1861-Oct. 31, 1927). Long’s short story was inspired by events recalled by his sister, Jennie, from her stay, beginning in 1892, in Japan with her husband, Irvin Correll, a Methodist missionary. Kaga Maki, whose teahouse name was Cho-san (Miss Butterfly) was involved with one of three Scottish brothers in Nagasaki and gave birth Dec. 8, 1870, to their son, Shinsaburo (later renamed Tomisaburo "Tom") Glover.

Chadwick Jenkins, professor of Music History and Theory at The City College of New York, suggests that the structural model for John Long’s short story was Madame Chrysanthème, published in 1887 by French naval officer and exotic novelist Pierre Loti, pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud (Jan. 14, 1850-June 10, 1923). Loti’s popular, semi-autobiographical novel concerns the practice of temporary marriages between Japanese females and foreign merchants and military personnel in Nagasaki, Kyushu, southwestern Japan.

American theatrical director/producer and playwright David Belasco (July 25, 1853-May 14, 1931) adapted Long’s short story into a one-act play, Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan. Belasco’s play premiered March 5, 1900, at New York City’s Herald Square Theatre. Seven weeks later, Belasco’s hit play premiered April 28, 1900, at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre.

In June 1900, Giacomo Puccini attended a performance of Belasco’s play. The Italian opera composer was on a six-week stay in London preparatory to Tosca’s July 12 premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Puccini’s sixth opera premiered Feb. 17, 1904, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. His original two-act version underwent four revisions and expanded to three acts. Puccini completed the fifth version, now known as the Standard Version, in 1907.

Twelve performances of Madama Butterfly are scheduled for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season. Opening night, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, marked the opera’s 869th performance at the Metropolitan Opera. Five additional autumn performances were given: Monday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Two late winter performances are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m.

Four early spring performances begin with the March 3 Saturday matinee broadcast at 1 p.m. The month’s additional three performances take place Thursday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. EDT; closing night, Friday, March 16, at 8 p.m. Closing night will mark Madama Butterfly’s 881st performance at the Metropolitan Opera.

Estimated run time for Madama Butterfly is 3 hours 14 minutes. Act I runs for 53 minutes. An intermission of 30 minutes follows the first act. Act II scene 1 is timed for 52 minutes. An intermission of 25 minutes follows. Act II scene 2 spans 34 minutes.

Marco Armiliato conducts all winter and spring performances, including the March 3 Saturday matinee broadcast. His birthplace is Genoa, Liguria, northwestern Italy. The Genoese conductor debuted Nov. 9, 1998, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1,048th performance of Puccini’s La Bohème. In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, he also conducts two more Puccini operas, La Bohème and Turandot, as well as Il Trovatore by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Jader Bignamini conducted the opera’s autumn performances. His birthplace is Crema, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. The Italian conductor’s autumn appearances on the podium marked his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Ermonela Jaho appears as Cio-Cio-San, the tragically trusting geisha, in all winter and spring performances, including the March 3 Saturday matinee broadcast. Her birthplace is Tirana, central Albania. The Albanian soprano debuted March 15, 2008, as Violetta in the Metropolitan Opera’s 941st performance of Verdi’s La Traviata.

Ermonela Jaho shares the role with Hui He, who appeared in all six autumn performances. The Chinese operatic lirico-spinto soprano debuted March 26, 2010, in the title role of Verdi’s Aida in the opera’s 1,113rd performance at the Metropolitan Opera.

Update: Inna Dukach sings the title role for the performance Tuesday, March 13, as replacement for Ermonela Jaho, who is ill. Her birthplace is Moscow, northwestern Russia. The Russian American soprano's appearance March 13 marks her Metropolitan Opera debut. (Update via Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera Twitter tweet March 13, 2018.)

Maria Zifchak performs as Suzuki, Madama Butterfly’s maid, in all performances. Her hometown is Smithtown, Suffolk County, North Shore of Long Island, southeastern New York. The American mezzo-soprano debuted Jan. 6, 2000, as Kate Pinkerton in the Metropolitan Opera’s 741st performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Maria Zifchak also appears as Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Roberto Aronica appears in the March 3 Saturday matinee broadcast as Pinkerton, the U.S. Navy lieutenant who breaks Butterfly’s trusting heart. He appeared as Pinkerton in all six autumn performances. He also performs March 8. His birthplace is Civitavecchia, Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, west central Italy. The Italian tenor debuted Dec. 9, 1998, as Alfred in the Metropolitan Opera’s 823rd performance of Verdi’s La Traviata.

Roberto Aronica shares the role with Luis Chapa, who appears in the last two spring performances (March 13; closing night, March 16). His birthplace is Monclova, east central Coahuila, northeastern Mexico. The Mexican tenor’s appearances as Pinkerton mark his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Roberto Frontali appears in the March 3 Saturday matinee broadcast as Sharpless, U.S. consul at Nagasaki. He also appears in both late winter performances (Feb. 22, 26) and in two additional early performances (March 8; closing night, March 16). His birthplace is Rome, Lazio region, west central Italy. The Italian baritone debuted Nov. 14, 1992, as Belcore in the Metropolitan Opera’s 196th performance of L’Elisir d’Amore by Italian bel canto composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Roberto Frontali shares the role with two other baritones. David Bizic appeared as Sharpless in five autumn performances (opening night, Nov. 2; Nov. 6, 9, 13, 17). His birthplace is Belgrade, Serbia. The Serbian operatic baritone debuted Feb. 18, 2014, as Albert in the Metropolitan Opera’s 74th performance of Werther by French Romantic Era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912).

Dwayne Croft has two appearances as Sharpless: Nov. 20 and March 13. His birthplace is Cooperstown, Otsego County, Central New York Region, New York. The American baritone debuted April 18, 1990, as Fiorello in the Metropolitan Opera’s 442nd performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Italian composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868). In the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Dwayne Croft also appears as Peter in Hansel and Gretel by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck (Sept. 1, 1854-Sept. 27, 1921); Orest in Elektra by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949); Capulet in Roméo et Juliette by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Met Opera’s 2017-2018 staging of Madama Butterfly revives the 2006-2007 Met Opera season’s new production directed by Anthony Minghella (Jan. 6, 1954-March 18, 2008). The Italian film, opera and television director/producer’s new production debuted Sept. 25, 2006, in the opera’s 799th performance at the Metropolitan Opera. Minghella’s widow, Carolyn Choa, heads the production as director and choreographer. The production team also comprises Michael Levine, set designer; Han Feng, costume designer; Peter Mumford, lighting designer.

Minghella’s production also includes two Bunraku puppets to represent Butterfly’s child and Butterfly herself in a dream sequence. London, England-based Blind Summit Theatre, co-founded by Mark Downs and Nick Barnes in 1997, designed the production’s puppets. Bunraku theatre generally requires three puppeteers per puppet.

The opera’s setting is Nagasaki, Japan, in the opening years of the 20th century. Three years pass between Act I and Act II.

Madama Butterfly appears as the 14th of the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 23 Saturday matinee broadcasts. La Bohème was the season’s 13th Saturday matinee broadcast. La Bohème aired Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, at 12:30 p.m.

The season’s 15th Saturday matinee broadcast is Rossini’s Semiramide. Semiramide is scheduled for March 10, 2018, at 1 p.m.

Online database Operabase places Giacomo Puccini in third place in a worldwide ranking of 1,281 composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/2016. Eighteenth century Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart and 19th century Italian bel canto composer Gioachino Rossini occupy second and fourth places, respectively.

Madama Butterfly occupies sixth place in the worldwide list of 2,658 most popular operas. Fifth and seventh places are held by Puccini’s Tosca and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, respectively.

Madama Butterfly's Metropolitan Opera debut took place Feb. 11, 1907. Giacomo Puccini attended the premiere, which featured Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso (Feb. 25, 1873-Aug. 2, 1921) Pinkerton and American operatic soprano Geraldine Ferrar (FEb. 28, 1882-March 11, 1967) as Butterfly. The Metropolitan Opera record of the premiere notes the composer's supervision of the production and attendance at rehearsals by playwright David Belasco. Prior to the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Madama Butterfly's most recent Met Opera performances occurred during the 2015-2016 season.

The Metropolitan Opera’s Repertory Report provides statistics for the opera house’s operatic performances. Madama Butterfly is in seventh place. Sixth and eighth places are occupied by Verdi’s Rigoletto and Gounod’s Faust, respectively.

The takeaway for Madama Butterfly as the March 3, 2018, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is that the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 14th Saturday matinee broadcast presents a compelling musical portrait of a naïve geisha who sacrifices everything, including herself, for an unrequited love in early 20th century Japan.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Late Italian film, opera and theater director Anthony Minghella's staging of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, revived during the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, debuted during the Metropolitan Opera's 2006-2007 season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Feb. 22, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160169578995533/

For further information:

Belasco, David. Six Plays: Madame Butterfly, Du Barry, The Darling of the Gods, Adrea, The Girl of the Golden West, The Return of Peter Grimm. Boston MA: Little, Brown, and Company, October 1928.
Available via Columbia University’s Instructional Technology Center @ http://www.columbia.edu/itc/music/NYCO/butterfly/images/belasco_sm.pdf

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“Debut: Dwayne Croft.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 300040 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {442} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/18/1990.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=300040

“Debut: Ermonela Jaho.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352422 La Traviata {941} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/15/2008.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352422

“Debut: Hui He.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353447 Aida {1113} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/26/2010.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353447

“Debut: Jader Bignamini, Kidon Choi.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356779 Madama Butterfly {870} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/02/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356779

“Debut: Roberto Aronica.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 331213 La Traviata {823} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/9/1998.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=331213

“Debut: Roberto Frontali.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 310550 l’Elisir d’Amore {196} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/14/1992.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=310550

“Debuts: Gregory Lorenz, Marco Armiliato.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 331123 La Bohème {1048} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/09/1998.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=331123

"Debuts: Inna Dukach, Luis Chapa." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356914 Madama Butterfly {880} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/13/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356914

"Debuts: Sara Erde, Sophie Koch, David Bizic . . ." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355319 New Production Werther {74} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/18/2014.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355319

“Debuts: Sylvie Valayre . . . Maria Zifchak . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 332300 Madama Butterfly {741} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/6/2000.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=332300

Jenkins, Chadwick. “The Original Story: John Luther Long and David Belasco.” Columbia University > Instructional Technology Center > Music Humanities > New York City Opera Project: Madama Butterfly.
Available @ http://www.columbia.edu/itc/music/NYCO/butterfly/luther.html

Long, John Luther. “Madame Butterfly.” The Century; A Popular Quarterly, vol. 55, issue 3 (January 1898): 374-393.
Available via Cornell University Libraries’ Making of America @ http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cent;idno=cent0055-3

Loti, Pierre. Madame Chrysanthème. Livre audio gratuity publié le 13 avril 2010. Read by (donneur de voix) René Depasse.
Available via Litterature audio.com @ http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livre-audio-gratuit-mp3/loti-pierre-madame-chrysantheme.html

Loti, Pierre. Madame Chrysanthème. Paris, France: Calmann-Lévy, 1888.
Available via InLibroVeritas @ http://www.inlibroveritas.net/oeuvres/7641/madame-chrysantheme#pf1

Loti, Pierre. Madame Chrysanthème. Translated by Laura Ensor. London, and Manchester, UK; New York, New York: George Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1897.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/madamechrysanth02lotigoog

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of Madama Butterfly Is Nov. 2.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of_23.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “La Bohème Is Feb. 24, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Feb. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/la-boheme-is-feb-24-2018-met-opera.html

May, Thomas. “Puccini’s Theatrical Sensibility in ‘Madama Butterfly.’” San Francisco Opera > 2016-17 Season > Madame Butterfly.
Available @ https://sfopera.com/1617-season/201617-season/madame-butterfly/puccinis-theatrical-sensibility-in-madama-butterfly/

Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera. "Plans in #NewYork tonight? Anthony Minghella’s stunning production #MetOpera GIACOMO PUCCINI Madama Butterfly." Twitter. Nov. 17, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/931562053504061440

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho grew up hoping to one day sing Cio-Cio-San. Not only did she get her wish, but the role has become a signature for Jaho. Madama Butterfly returns Feb 22." Facebook. Feb. 20, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10160145938915533

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Cio-Cio-San is one of the defining roles in opera, requiring the soprano to convey an astounding array of emotions and characteristics while remaining on stage for most of the performance. Puccini's Madama Butterfly returns tonight, Feb 22, starring Ermonela Jaho in the title role. Learn more: bit.ly/2rVBmYf Photo by Ken Howard/Met Opera." Facebook. Feb. 22, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160169578995533/

Metropolitan Opera ‏@MetOpera. "For this evening’s (3/13) performance of Madama Butterfly, Inna Dukach sings Cio-Cio-San replacing Ermonela Jaho, who is ill. #CastChange." Twitter. March 13, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/973626714399092737

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Madama Butterfly." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 38830 Metropolitan Opera Premiere In the Presence of the Composer Madama Butterfly {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/11/1907.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=38830

“New Production: Madama Butterfly.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351555 New Production Madama Butterfly {799} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/25/2006.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351555

"Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

“Production of Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ in London.” The Manchester Guardian. July 13, 1900.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/jul/14/archive-production-of-puccinis-tosca-1900

van Rij, Jan. Madame Butterfly: Japonisme, Puccini, & the Search for the Real Cho-Cho-San. Stone Bridge Press, 2001.

van Rij, Jan. “Was There a Real Madame Butterfly?” Playbill > Classic Arts Features. July 22, 2005.
Available @ http://www.playbill.com/article/was-there-a-real-madame-butterfly

Sunday, February 25, 2018

North American Snow Geese Habitats From Alaska and Canada to Mexico

Summary: North American snow geese habitats need breeding in Alaska and Canada and, despite 75 ambushed geese in Missouri Feb. 17, 2018, wintering south to Mexico.

snow goose (Anser caerulescens) takeoff at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, northern California; Nov. 16, 2009; photo by George Lamson: US Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters (USFWS Headquarters), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Unknown agents with unknown agendas ambushed 75 family-flocked Ross's geese and snow geese on the migratory species' wintering grounds in North American snow geese habitats in Cass County, Missouri, Feb. 17, 2018.

Snow geese bear their common name for snowy bodies and homelands and the subspecies common names lesser and greater snow geese because of biogeography and size. They claim the respective species and subspecies scientific names Anser caerulescens, Anser caerulescens caerulescens and Anser caerulescens atlanticus (goose [with] blue-gray [form along the] Atlantic [coast]). Respective descriptions in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and in 1927 by Frederic Hedge Kennard (Nov. 19, 1865-Feb. 24, 1937) dominate taxonomies.

Lesser and greater subspecies' life cycles expect High Arctic tundra with respective Gulf and Atlantic coastal plain bulrushes, cattails, cord-grass, panic-grass, reeds, salt-grass, sedge and wild-rice.

May through July furnish lesser and greater snow geese life cycles with nesting season months at High Arctic tundra colonies frequently favored by Ross's geese populations.

Lesser and greater snow geese graze on aquatic and terrestrial leaves, roots, seeds, stems and tubers and on winter grains and young leaves in agricultural fields. Lesser subspecies in northernmost Alaska and central-northwesternmost Canada and greater subspecies in central-northeasternmost Canada have one 2- to 6-egg annual brood in down-softened, plant-lined, hummock-scraped nests. Lesser and greater snow geese life cycles impel lifetime-mated, monogamous-paired females and males toward family-flocked, multi-generational investigations of identical breeding and wintering itineraries year after year.

North American snow geese habitats juggle common immature and mature white forms and rare immature and mature blue forms, both with elongated bills, heads and necks.

Immature blue forms keep gray bills, heads, legs, underparts, upper-parts and webfeet whereas immature whites know gray bills, legs and webfeet and gray-brown underparts and upper-parts.

Mature blue forms look dark-bellied, dark-eyed, pink-bellied, pink-footed, pink-legged and white-headed and layer dark flight and pale wing feathers on black-brown lower necks, underparts and upper-parts. White-bodied, white-headed adults with black-patched bills, dark eyes and flight feathers, gray wing patches and pink legs maintain direct, strong flight patterns with moderate wing beats. Bald eagles, bears, collectors, coyotes, foxes, hunters and wolves versus rough-legged hawks and snowy owls respectively number among lesser and greater snow geese predators and protectors.

North American snow geese habitats offer season's coldest temperature ranges, northward to southward, from minus 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 51.11 to 18.33 degrees Celsius).

Breeding grounds from northernmost Quebec through Alaska and wintering grounds from New Jersey through New Mexico, Nebraska, Illinois, Kentucky and everywhere in-between promote snow geese lifespans.

Lesser subspecies queue up 25- to 31-inch (63.5- to 78.74-centimeter) lengths, 51- to 65-inch (129.54- to 165.1-centimeter) wingspans and 60-to 96-ounce (1,700.97- to 2,721.55-gram) weights. Greater subspecies reveal 27- to 33-inch (68.58- to 83.82-centimeter) head-body lengths, 53- to 66-inch (134.62- to 167.64-centimeter) wingspans and 95.24- to 134.04-ounce (2,700- to 3,800-gram) weights. Lesser and greater subspecies signal bunched or v-shaped flight sessions with high-pitched heenk or nasal kow-luk, kowk or whouk calls and feeding sessions with hu-hu-hur calls.

North American snow geese habitats treasure their twice-yearly travelers, especially the 75 Ross's and snow geese terminated and tossed in Cass County, Missouri, Feb. 17, 2018.

Northern portion of west central Missouri's Cass County is the site of an incident of dumping 75 dead geese, including Ross's geese; photo by Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC): Missouri Dept. of Conservation @moconservation via Facebook Feb.20, 2018

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Bent, Arthur Cleveland. 1937. "In Memoriam: Frederic Hedge Kennard 1865-1937." The Auk, vol. 54, no. 3 (July 1937): 341-348. Lancaster PA: The American Ornithologists' Union.
Available via SORA (Searchable Ornithological Research Archive) @ https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v054n03/p0341-p0348a.pdf

Kennard, F.H. (Frederick Hedge). 1927. "The Specific Status of the Greater Snow Goose." Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club, vol. 9: 85-93.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1758. "10. Anas caerulescens." Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 124. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727029

Peterson, Alan P., M.D. "Anser caerulescens (Linnaeus) 1758." Zoonomen: Zoological Nomenclature Resource > Birds of the World -- Current Valid Scientific Avian Names > Anseriformes > Anatidae > Anser.
Available @ http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/anse.html

Vuilleumier, François, Editor-in-Chief. 2016. American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America. New York NY: DK Publishing.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

North American Ross's Geese Habitats From Canada Southward into Mexico

Summary: North American Ross's geese habitats need breeding grounds in Arctic Canada and migration routes and wintering grounds into and beyond the United States.

Ross's goose in Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, West Alton, St. Charles County, east central Missouri; March 17, 2017: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren (Wildreturn), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Seventy-five members of Ross's goose and snow goose overwintering populations are dead and their bodies abandoned in Missouri, one of North American Ross's geese habitats, according to online sources Feb. 20-21, 2018.

Ross's geese bear their common name as namesake members of the Anserinae subfamily with larger, longer-necked swans and the Anatidae duck, goose and swan waterfowl family. The same-meaninged scientific name Anser rossii commemorates Bernard Rogan Ross (Sep. 25, 1827-June 21, 1874), Hudson's Bay Company factor at Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1843-1871. Scientific designations defer to descriptions in 1861 by John Cassin (Sep. 6, 1816-Jan. 10, 1869), unpaid curator of Pennsylvania's Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences from 1842.

Ross's goose life cycles expect breeding grounds in northern and northeast coastal Nunavut and southern coastal Baffin Island and wintering grounds in fields, grasslands and wetlands.

June through August function in 21-year Ross's goose life cycles as nesting season months at High Arctic tundra colonies with lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens).

Ross's geese get together in family flocks to graze on grasses, sedges and small grains and go northward and southward along midwestern and western migration routes. They have one 3 to 5-egg yearly brood in plant-lined ground nests along Hudson Bay islands and in Arctic Canada's Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Ross's goose life cycles involve lifetime-mated, monogamous females and males in extended, multi-generational family flocks that inhabit the same breeding and nonbreeding homelands year after year.

North American Ross's geese habitats juggle rare short-necked blue forms with dark-patched bills and white immature and mature forms with furrowed necks and short triangular bills.

Immature Ross's geese know brown little eyes with dusky lines, dark short triangular bills, dark wing tips, gray-washed white upperparts, light gray crowns and short necks.

Mature blue forms look blue-gray basally along pink-red bills, brown in eyes and upper-parts, pink-red in web-footed legs and white in head, neck, rump and tail. Mature white forms manifest black wing tips, brown little eyes, pink-red bills with blue-gray warts, pink-red web-footed legs, round head and white neck, underparts and upper-parts. Agro-industrialists, bald eagles, bears, collectors, coyotes, foxes, gulls, hunters, jaegers and wolves versus rough-legged hawks and snowy owls respectively number among Ross's geese predators and protectors.

North American Ross's geese habitats offer season's coldest temperature ranges, northward to southward, from minus 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 51.11 to 18.33 degrees Celsius).

Wintering grounds in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas and Mexico promote Ross's goose life cycles.

Ross's geese queue up among less aquatic, more terrestrial of waterfowl even though their direct flight patterns with rapid wing beats qualify them as strong fliers. Adults reveal 44.79- to 66.32-ounce (1,224- to 1,880-gram), 45.28- to 51.18-inch (115- to 130-centimeter) and 20.87- to 25.98-inch (53- to 66-centimeter) weights, wingspans and head-body lengths. They sound harsh when flying and growling kork or kowk, high-pitched when cackling keek-keek-keeek, loud when calling uuggh-uuggh-uuggh, quiet when feeding and sad when whispering uuuhhhh.

Who in Cass County terminated 75 Ross's and snow geese whose extended families travel between North American Ross's geese habitats and North American snow geese habitats?

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Ross's goose in Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, West Alton, St. Charles County, east central Missouri; March 17, 2017: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren (Wildreturn), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wildreturn/33428667874/

photo by Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC): Missouri Dept. of Conservation @moconservation via Facebook Feb. 20, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/moconservation/posts/10156204954897962

For further information:

Bowsfield, Hartwell. "Ross, Bernard Rogan." Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. X (1871-1880). Toronto and Quebec City, Canada: University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1972.
Available @ http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ross_bernard_rogan_10E.html

Cassin, J. (John). "Communication in Reference to a New Species of Goose From Arctic America: 3. Anser rossii Baird." Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 13 (1861): 73. Philadelphia PA: Academy of Natural Sciences, 1862.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26312779

Peterson, Alan P., M.D. "Anser rossii Cassin 1861." Zoonomen: Zoological Nomenclature Resource > Birds of the World -- Current Valid Scientific Avian Names > Anseriformes > Anatidae > Anser.
Available @ http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/anse.html

Vuilleumier, François, Editor-in-Chief. American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America. New York NY: DK Publishing, 2016.

Friday, February 23, 2018

Schiphol Airport Armored Car Heist: Suspects, Some Jewels Back, Some Not

Summary: The Schiphol airport armored car heist Feb. 25, 2005, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is seven suspects closer to being solved in its 13th anniversary year.

Michael Einhorn, co-founder in 1999 of London-based Cool Diamonds (showroom at 16 Greville Street, Hatton Garden, northern London), tells The Guardian that his company's losses in the February 2005 Schiphol Airport heist amounted to £1.2 million of loose, Arges-cut diamonds, weighing from half a carat to five carats: Cool Diamonds @cooldiamonds via Facebook March 5, 2012

The Schiphol airport armored car heist Feb. 25, 2005, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, accounts for one of the world's biggest, most high-valued unsolved diamond theft mysteries even though 2018 appears to augur answers.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee police brought in suspected perpetrators midway through the month before the 12th anniversary of the Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM) incident. The Dutch Royal Military Police cluster airport security among their gendarmerie-style concerns and conducted two-city raids Jan. 20 and 21, 2017, on the basis of tip-offs. Online news describe the detentions of seven Dutch nationals as deriving from last year's discovery of new information that detected relevant, unspecified activities, locales and perpetrators.

Amy R. Connolly for UPI online Jan. 21, 2018, equates armed extractions that entail insider information and no violence with enlisting inside help that eludes evidence.

Finding five male and two female suspects January 2017 follows up on failure to furnish evidence against five detainees two to three months after the robbery.

Online sources give two to four men as getting a car into, and a truck and €75 million ($80 million, £64 million) from, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Their news articles have no information as to whether January 2017's five male detainees harken back to the male quintet of suspected perpetrators 13 years ago. They include no information about whether investigations in Europe's Autonomous Region of Valencia identified the whereabouts of €32 million ($43 million, £22 million) in missing diamonds.

Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell juggle €75 million, $99 million and £52 million into estimated cash values of the intact Schiphol Airport armored car heist.

The co-authors of Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History, about the Antwerp Diamond Center Feb. 15-16, 2003, keep the €1:$1.3194 rate in Schiphol-related notes.

Dutch police located some diamonds in a get-away vehicle and the KLM truck's torched remains in Diemen the month after the Schiphol airport armored car heist. Two to four KLM-uniformed men maneuvered their KLM company car through the boom gates after a truck and into the securest airside of the Schiphol airport. They nabbed KLM's unarmed security guard drivers and navigated KLM's unsecured truck away from the scheduled flight to Antwerp of its diamonds unprotected by theft-deterrent packaging.

De Volkskrant coverage offered the Schiphol airport armored car heist as occurring like a kidnapping, not a robbery, with KLM protocol observing non-intervention for employee safety.

A spokesman at the time presented the company position, despite preventative protocols, that "KLM security staff were threatened during the heist, but no one was injured."

A fuel-stop system unimplemented, and non-functioning, despite guards on the ground and thieves at the wheel qualified among the last preventative protocols to quash the robbery. CCTV highway footage retraced the robbers' route from Schiphol to Diemen even though nothing revealed the reasons why the robbers rode in and out without resistance. No online sources say whether the thieves showed special passes, or sidled past without scrutiny, when speeding in by car and out by car and truck.

Who or what told the Schiphil airport armored car heist thieves how, when and where to take company transportation and uniforms in time for in-transit diamonds?

Cool Diamonds' co-founder Michael Einhorn explains in The Guardian's Feb. 25, 2005, article that a laser inscription, not removable by recutting, identifies each of his company's diamonds for legitimate dealers: Cool Diamonds @cooldiamonds via Facebook Nov. 3, 2010

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Cool Diamonds' co-founder Michael Einhorn explains in The Guardian's Feb. 25, 2005, article that, despite losses of £1.2 million, his company is "100% insured so we will not be losing any sleep." Also, a laser inscription, not removable by recutting, identifies each of his company's diamonds for legitimate dealers: Cool Diamonds @cooldiamonds via Facebook Nov. 3, 2010, @ https://www.facebook.com/cooldiamonds/photos/a.10150113441839768.330846.173880524767/10150113441919768/

For further information:

"Amsterdam Diamond Theft: Seven Arrested." BBC > News > World > Europe > 21 Jan. 2017.
Available @ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38705870

Connolly, Amy R. 21 January 2017. "Seven Arrested in Decade-Old Amsterdam Diamond Heist." United Press International > Top News > World News.
Available @ https://www.upi.com/Seven-arrested-in-decade-old-Amsterdam-diamond-heist/5611485022912/

Cool Diamonds @cooldiamonds. 3 November 2010. "Round Brilliant Cut Diamond displaying the GIA Laser Inscription." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/cooldiamonds/photos/a.10150113441839768.330846.173880524767/10150113441919768/

Cool Diamonds @cooldiamonds. 5 March 2012. "Updated their cover photo." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/cooldiamonds/photos/a.10150846732289768.521550.173880524767/10150846883829768/

Cowan, Rosie; Owen Boycott. "Up to £52m in Gems Stolen in Airport Raid." The Guardian > News > World. Feb. 25, 2005.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/feb/26/ukcrime.uk

"Police Detain Dutch Diamond Heist Suspects 12 Years After Robbery." Deutsche Welle > English > News > 21 January 2017.
Available @ http://www.dw.com/en/police-detain-dutch-diamond-heist-suspects-12-years-after-robbery/a-37222729

Selby, Scott Andrew; and Campbell, Greg. 2010. Flawless: Inside the Larggest Diamond Heist in History. New York NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

"Thieves Pull Big Diamond Heist in Holland." NBC News > 24 February 2005.
Available @ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7032778/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/thieves-pull-big-diamond-heist-holland/#.WoSUkKinGUn

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

February 2018 Lunar Perigee Is Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 363,938 Kilometers

Summary: February 2018 lunar perigee is Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 363,938 kilometers, the month’s closest center-to-center distance between moon and Earth.

waxing gibbous moon, with nearly 92 percent illumination, at 14:00 UTC, 48 minutes before perigee: Ernie Wright (USRA lead visualizer), John Keller (NASA GSFC scientist), Noah Petro (NASA GSFC scientist) and David Ladd (USRA producer) via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

February 2018 lunar perigee, which marks the month’s closest center-to-center distance between moon and Earth, is Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 14:48 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (9:48 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), at 363,938 kilometers (almost 226,141 miles).

The moon phase at time of perigee is waxing gibbous, the fourth of the eight-phase lunar cycle. As viewed from Earth, the lunar surface displays approximately 92 percent illumination.

Astronomers note the moon’s closest and farthest distances from Earth each month. Perigee (Ancient Greek: περί, perí, “near” + γῆ, gê, “Earth”) represents the closest center-to-center distance between moon and Earth. Its opposite, apogee (Ancient Greek: ἀπόγειον, apógeion, “away from Earth;" from ἀπό, apó, “away” + γῆ, gê, “Earth”), indicates the farthest center-to-center distance between moon and Earth.

Retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak’s Astro Pixels website identifies February’s apogee as an event preceding the month’s perigee by 16 days 32 minutes. February’s moon logged apogee Sunday, Feb. 11, at 14:16 GMT/UTC (9:16 a.m. EST), at 405,701 kilometers. The month’s apogee of 405,701 kilometers is 41,763 kilometers farther than the month’s perigee of 363,938 kilometers.

The moon phase at time of perigee was waning crescent, the eighth of the eight-phase lunar cycle. As viewed from Earth, the lunar surface displayed approximately 16 to 17 percent illumination.

February’s perigee of 363,938 kilometers has a center-to-center distance that is 5,166 kilometers closer than March’s perigee of 369,104 kilometers. March’s perigee happens Monday, March 26, at 17:17 GMT/UTC (1:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

February’s apogee of 405,701 kilometers has a center-to-center distance that is 1,019 kilometers farther than March’s apogee of 404,682 kilometers. March’s apogee takes place Sunday, March 11, at 09:13 GMT/UTC (5:13 a.m. EDT).

Astronomers also note the year’s minimum and maximum values for perigee and apogee. The year’s closest perigee is also known as proxigee.

The maximum perigee value marks the greatest distance in the closeness range. The maximum perigee for 2018 happens Oct. 31, at 20:05 GMT/UTC (4:05 p.m. EDT), at 370,201 kilometers. The year’s maximum perigee of 370,201 kilometers is 6,263 kilometers farther than February’s lunar perigee of 363,938 kilometers.

The minimum perigee value signifies the smallest center-to-center distance in the closeness range. The minimum perigee value, known as proxigee, for 2018 was achieved Monday, Jan. 1, at 21:54 GMT/UTC (4:54 p.m. EST), at 356,566 kilometers. The year’s proxigee of 356,566 kilometers is 7,372 kilometers closer than February’s lunar perigee of 363,938 kilometers. The year’s farthest, or maximum, perigee of 370,201 kilometers is 13,635 kilometers farther than the year’s proxigee, or minimum perigee, of 356,566 kilometers.

The maximum, or farthest, apogee for 2018 was obtained Monday, Jan. 15, at 02:10 GMT/UTC (Sunday, Jan. 14, at 9:10 p.m. EST), at 406,461 kilometers. The year’s maximum apogee of 406,461 is 760 kilometers farther than February’s lunar apogee of 405,701 kilometers.

The year’s minimum, or closest, apogee is calculated for Sunday, April 8, at 05:32 GMT/UTC (1:32 a.m. EDT), at 404,145 kilometers. February 2018’s lunar apogee of 405,701 kilometers is 1,556 kilometers farther than 2018’s minimum apogee of 404,145 kilometers.

The year’s maximum, or farthest, apogee of 406,461 kilometers is 2,316 kilometers farther than the year’s minimum, or closest, apogee of 404,145 kilometers.

A comparison of 2018’s maximum values reveals a difference of 36,260 kilometers between the year’s maximum, or farthest, apogee of 406,461 kilometers and the year’s maximum, or farthest, perigee of 370,201 kilometers. The minimum values for 2018 present a difference of 47,579 kilometers between the year’s minimum, or closest, apogee of 404,145 kilometers and the year’s minimum, or closest, perigee of 356,566 kilometers.

Perigee and apogee happen because the moon’s orbit of Earth does not trace a perfect circle. The lunar orbit is elliptical. Fred Espenak explains via the NASA Eclipse Web Site: “The Moon revolves around Earth in an elliptical orbit with a mean eccentricity of 0.0549. Thus, the Moon’s center-to-center distance from Earth varies with mean values of 363,396 km at perigee to 405,504 km at apogee.”

The takeaways for February 2018 lunar perigee, happening Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 363,938 kilometers, are that the moon’s elliptical orbit explains variations in center-to-center distance between moon and Earth and that astronomers note monthly closeness (apogee) and remoteness (perigee) as well as the year’s maximum and minimum values.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

waning crescent moon, with over 16 percent illumination at 14:00 UTC, 16 minutes before apogee: Ernie Wright (USRA lead visualizer), John Keller (NASA GSFC scientist), Noah Petro (NASA GSFC scientist) and David Ladd (USRA producer) via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio @ https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004600/a004604/frames/5760x3240_16x9_30p/fancy/comp.0999.tif

For further information:

Barnes, Joshua E. “Shape of Lunar Orbit.” March 11, 2003. University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy > Barnes > Astronomy 110 Laboratory.
Available @ https://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/ASTR110L_S03/lunarorbit.html

Espenak, Fred. “Eclipses and the Moon’s Orbit.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/moonorbit.html

Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2100 Greenwich Mean Time.” Astro Pixels > Ephemeris > Moon.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html

Espenak, Fred. “2018 Calendar of Astronomical Events Greenwich Mean Time.” Astro Pixels > Ephemeris.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2018gmt.html

“Lunar Perigee and Apogee.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Moon.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/lunar-perigee-apogee.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Lunar Apogee Maximum Happens Dec. 19 at 406,605 Kilometers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/2017-lunar-apogee-maximum-happens-dec.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Lunar Apogee Minimum Happens Aug. 30 at 404,307 Kilometers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/08/2017-lunar-apogee-minimum-happens-aug.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Lunar Perigee Maximum Happens Sept. 13 at 369,856 Kilometers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-lunar-perigee-maximum-happens-sept.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Lunar Perigee Minimum Happens May 26 at 357,210 Kilometers.” Wednesday, May 24, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/2017-lunar-perigee-minimum-happens-may.html

McClure, Bruce. “Close and Far Moons in 2018.” EarthSky > Astronomy Essentials. Jan. 15, 2018.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/close-and-far-moons

“Moon Phases February 2018.” Calendar-12.com > Moon Calendar > 2018.
Available @ https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2018/february

Walker, John. “Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator.” Fourmilab Switzerland > Earth and Moon Viewer.
Available @ https://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pacalc.html