Posted on 05/11/2012 4:40:38 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: The Super Moon wins, by just a little, when its apparent size is compared to the Sun in this ingenious composite picture. To make it, the Full Moon on May 6 was photographed with the same camera and telescope used to image the Sun (with a dense solar filter!) on the following day. Of course, on May 6 the Moon was at perigee, the closest point to Earth in its eliptical orbit, making it the largest Full Moon of 2012. Two weeks later, on May 20, the Moon will be near apogee, the most distant point in its orbit, so by then it will be nearly at its smallest apparent size. It will also be a dark New Moon on that date. And for some the New Moon will be surprisingly easy to compare to the Sun, because on May 20 the first solar eclipse of 2012 will be visible from much of Asia, the Pacific, and North America. Along a path 240 to 300 kilometers wide, the eclipse will be annular. Near apogee the smaller silhouetted Moon will fit just inside the bright solar disk.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit & Copyright: Charlie Szabototh]
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Cool!
i'm confused... closed is May 6 and farthest is 2 weeks later on May 20???
Remember the moons orbit is only 28 days long. It hits apogee and perigee every month
It takes about 28 days for the moon to orbit the earth. So 2 weeks after perigee the moon would be at apogee
Yeah. What’s the confusion....the moon has a twenty-eight day orbit......two weeks would be exactly correct
Really neato picture, Mr. Civilizations!
yeah... i guess i was thinking of the opposite of the super moon's perigee, the mini moon, not simply the monthly one
pls see post #9
happens to the best of us....after all it is Friday
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