Posted on 12/12/2008 12:38:59 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A full moon is set to occur closer to the Earth on Friday evening than it has done for the past 15 years.
The Moon's elliptical orbit means its distance from the Earth is not constant.
It will be a little over 350,000km away as it passes over the northern hemisphere, which is about 30,000km closer than usual.
If the sky is clear it will appear brighter and larger than usual, say astronomers.
Closest path
Friday's full moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year, Nasa said.
The Moon's orbit is elliptical, meaning it does not follow a circular but rather an oval path.
It is currently approaching the point where this oval orbit is nearest to the Earth.
"It's only every few years that a full moon happens to coincide with the part of the Moon's orbit when its closest to the Earth," said Marek Kukula, an astronomer at the UK's Royal Observatory.
"What people will see is a full moon that's really bright and a bit bigger than what they're used to."
It will appear largest as it rises and sets, but this is a psychological illusion, Dr Kukula said.
"When it's close to the horizon, our brain interprets it as being bigger than it actually is, this is called the moon illusion," he said.
"The size may be striking when it's near the horizon," said Robert Massey of the UK Royal Astronomical Society.
However, he cautioned against expecting too much.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
I thought it appeared larger than usual this morning when I saw it on my way to work. Now I know why.
I was walking the dog and made the same observation.
Just went and looked-— COOL
Thank you for the ping ma’am...still daylight here but I will keep an eye open tonight.
You are very welcome.
It’s spectacular, and real.
;-)
Ping.
Last night my 14 year old said, “I like moon light better than city lights.”
-PJ
I remember back in the days of living in British Columbia...we would drive without headlights on a moonlit night and did quite well.
Thanks fanfan.
I wonder what impact this unnatural full moon will have on trolls.
Now now, while Cartman rules we must rise above and appreciate the unique events that we’ll never see again in our limited time. I enjoyed getting out the binoculars to see the two planets over our moon. It’s speculated that their actual alignment circa 3 B.C. was the basis of the “Christmas Star”.
As far as the moonlight having an effect on “lunatics”, I started sleeping with a lamp on long ago. It keeps the lycanthropy at bay. Awoooooo!
My father had to roust me out of bed tonight to see it since I was snoozing. I said, “Yup, that’s the moon.” It seems to me I had seen it much larger than that at one time, but I can’t recall when.
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