Did you know that last Saturday we had a Super Moon floating over head? Do you even know what a Super moon is? To be honest I did not know what a super moon was but when I heard that we were scheduled to have one on March 19
th I decided to look into it. I also decided that I had to get some pics. So I began checking out the moon through out the week last week but unfortunately the only days that I could see the moon was on March 16, above, and March 19
th, below.
The moon is typically about 239,000 miles from the earth, however as it orbits it travels in an elliptical path. One side of this path is closer to the earth then the other. Its furthest distance, called apogee, is approximately 252,000 miles and its closest distance, called perigee, is approximately 222,000 miles. On March 19
th, when the moon was full, it was almost at perigee. This happens only about every 18 years, the last time the full moon was this close to earth was March of 1993. So if you got a chance to go out and look at the moon on Saturday it looked about 14% bigger and 30% brighter then the full moon when it is at apogee. Unfortunately it is difficult to tell the difference in size and brightness from pictures. The best time to take pictures to demonstrate the size is when the moon is at the Earth's horizon and it can be seen in comparison to objects on Earth, such as trees and buildings. Clouding skies prevented me from getting some shots when the moon was setting so I guess if you missed it you will have to wait around another 18 years to get a chance to see it for yourself.
Did you know that last Saturday we had a Super Moon floating over head? Do you even know what a Super moon is? To be honest I did not know what a super moon was but when I heard that we were scheduled to have one on March 19th I decided to look into it. I also decided that I had to get some pics. So I began checking out the moon through out the week last week but unfortunately the only days that I could see the moon was on March 16, above, and March 19th, below.
The moon is typically about 239,000 miles from the earth, however as it orbits it travels in an elliptical path. One side of this path is closer to the earth then the other. Its furthest distance, called apogee, is approximately 252,000 miles and its closest distance, called perigee, is approximately 222,000 miles. On March 19th, when the moon was full, it was almost at perigee. This happens only about every 18 years, the last time the full moon was this close to earth was March of 1993. So if you got a chance to go out and look at the moon on Saturday it looked about 14% bigger and 30% brighter then the full moon when it is at apogee. Unfortunately it is difficult to tell the difference in size and brightness from pictures. The best time to take pictures to demonstrate the size is when the moon is at the Earth's horizon and it can be seen in comparison to objects on Earth, such as trees and buildings. Clouding skies prevented me from getting some shots when the moon was setting so I guess if you missed it you will have to wait around another 18 years to get a chance to see it for yourself. 
21 comments:
I was visiting in N. Texas at the time, and there's nothing like a TX sky at night. Throw in a moon such as this, and it was just breathtaking. Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware, either! ~karen
Terrific photos! So glad you were able to capture it! We had our usual clouds and I only got a glimpse of it in the middle of the night, but couldn't get up and out with my camera in time before the clouds returned! Enjoy your weekend!
Sylvia
Thank you for letting us know about the 30,000 miles between near and far. That it is still a long way away there is no doubt. We can just about get our heads around a few thousand, but come to light years, forget it. Do you use a tripod, set the camera to infinity, then click on auto?
Cheers from Canada. We got dazzled by it!
stunning photos!!!
pretty views of the moon, it has been putting on some amazing shows this week
Nice shots...glad you could get them..here it was too cloudy at night to see the moon.
Fantastic! I missed out on this the other night. thank you for sharing it.
Fantastic photo for SWF and a very interesting post!Thank you for sharing!Have a great weekend!
Great shots .... happy SWF!
wow! totally amazing! Hope you can check out my Skywatch Friday entry as well. Thanks!
wow! fantastic capture! i think they said it was the supermoon because it's really that close to earth and it's the brightest too. :)
Your super moon images are just wonderful. I gave it a try too, but yours are splendid!
Que lindas imagens! Incrível!
Fantastic capture.
Liz @ A Simple Life
Fabulous moon shots!
Love the moon! And the first photo! =)
It looked great from the other side of the world as well - but for some reasons I just looked rather than clicked - oh well only 18 years to wait!
Stewart M - Australia
Superb moon shots! It was looking like a football of the giants:)
Excellent shots. I saw the moon, but my photos were duds.
Amazing captures!! I captured a few shots too.. :-)
Pixellicious Photos
Great photos of the super moon! It was raining here and the moon was hiding behind the clouds. Sigh.
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