Supermoon

[braumeister]

I don't think anyone has mentioned it, but try not to miss looking at the moon over the next several days. It will be the biggest, closest and brightest of the year, but notably the closest since 1948 and it won't be this close again until 2034. Pretty spectacular, and I've been enjoying the view for a few days now. Peak fullness this coming Sunday/Monday. Also, if you live near a coast, you might notice the high tides are a bit higher than usual.

 

[LOL!]

You won't notice that it is brightest and closest, since the difference between this and a normal full moon will be miniscule. Space nuts and astronomers always have to hype something to get people to pay attention. But full moons are really nice every month and do not have to be super to enjoy them.

Bottom line: It won't be spectacular. Prepare to be disappointed unless you think regular ol' full moons are spectacular.

 

[splitwdw]

Thanks, I'm really glad that people on this forum post about these events.
I know you don't need one for this event but I keep thinking about getting a telescope. I don't know enough to buy one. I'd love to be able to see more details.


LOL, just saw your post. I stand on our deck and watch the moon no matter what it's being called.

 

[Sunset]

That explains why I needed to shave today

 

[RobbieB]

Any telescope will give a wonderful view of the moon. 60-80 mm will be fine, a couple hundred bucks. You will see the craters easily and have a lot of fun!

 

[braumeister]

You won't notice that it is brightest and closest, since the difference between this and a normal full moon will be miniscule. Space nuts and astronomers always have to hype something to get people to pay attention. But full moons are really nice every month and do not have to be super to enjoy them.

Bottom line: It won't be spectacular. Prepare to be disappointed unless you think regular ol' full moons are spectacular.

I have to disagree. We have been noticing for days how much brighter and bigger this one is than usual.

 

[NW-Bound]

They say 14% larger and 30% brighter than an average full moon. So, the difference should be quite noticeable.

My problem is I do not remember how the regular full moon looks. It's been a while since I paid any attention.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I woke up in the middle of the night to lots of moonlight streaming in, with a handful of low clouds almost lit up reflecting it too. The skies are so clear this week that the effect should be amplified I would think.

 

[donheff]

I'm with the won't see a difference crowd. I love this stuff so was aware of the super-moon period have been watching it wax for the last few days. Nothing much. You get a much bigger apparent moon during any golden harvest moon evening as the moon creeps above the eastern horizon. This one looked pretty mundane as a plain old white orb higher in the southeast sky when I looked last night.

 

[Ronstar]

I hope to get some decent photos of a moonlit landscape. The 30% extra brightness should really help.

 

[Car-Guy]

We have been noticing for days how much brighter and bigger this one is than usual.

Agree.... I didn't know about this "event" but I noticed last night that "moonlight" seemed brighter than usual. Now I know why.

 

[donheff]

I have to disagree. We have been noticing for days how much brighter and bigger this one is than usual.

Agree.... I didn't know about this "event" but I noticed last night that "moonlight" seemed brighter than usual. Now I know why.

Could be the difference between rural and urban. The apparent size is not noticeable but maybe the light is - especially in darker, rural or suburban areas. In the city with all the ambient electric light a 15% difference in moonlight doesn't make much of a dent.

 

[Huston55]

Could be the difference between rural and urban. The apparent size is not noticeable but maybe the light is - especially in darker, rural or suburban areas. In the city with all the ambient electric light a 15% difference in moonlight doesn't make much of a dent.

We see the moon rise over SF Bay with the city lights a few miles in the background. So, I'm hoping the darkness of a few miles of water will amplify the effect of this full moon. Bigger/brighter or not, the moon rise here is almost always spectacular.

 

[mystang52]

This might put it in perspective:

There's super-hype for this month’s Super Moon | Astronomy.com

 

[ERD50]

This might put it in perspective:

There's super-hype for this month’s Super Moon | Astronomy.com

Thanks, from that article:

... however, this month’s Full Moon won’t look all that different from a typical one. Its apparent diameter will be 0.56° (33.5 arcminutes), which is 7 percent larger than normal. And it will appear nearly 15 percent brighter than a typical Full Moon. Yet these differences are barely noticeable to the naked eye under the best conditions, and even harder to discern when you try to compare the Moon’s appearance across several months.

Not sure why we see 7% larger here and 15% in others, and 'nearly 15% brighter' versus 30% - but I put more faith in Astronomy magazine than some random 'journalist' looking to fill some column space.

So is either 15% or 30% a measure of lumens (physical energy), or of human eye's perceived brightness? Lumens are linear, perceived brightness is logarithmic. A 30% increase in lumens is hardly anything in terms of perception. A 60W bulb is almost double the lumens of a 40W bulb (800 vs 450, ~ 1.77x - a 60W being more efficient also) , but we don't see it as 'twice as bright', just a clearly noticeable 'brighter'.

-ERD50

 

[GalaxyBoy]

While it will indeed be (apparently) larger, if you observe it near the horizon you need to bear in mind the moon illusion tends to change the perception of a low moon to seem bigger than a high moon.

 

[Koogie]

DW and I are sitting on the couch looking out the living room window at it now (1657 EST)

It is very bright but also "seems" much whiter than usual. The features are very distinct to the naked eye (no cloud cover, calm conditions).

Going to go out later and look at it with my binos. As with other posters, have noticed in the bedroom the last few nights how bright the moonlight has been.

I have been wanting a new telescope for a long time (a really good "light bucket" this time). This has rekindled that desire.

 

[braumeister]

I have been wanting a new telescope for a long time (a really good "light bucket" this time). This has rekindled that desire.

For things like this, you don't really need an expensive scope. Something like this would work very well:
Astroscan Millennium Telescope at $219.

 

[Koogie]

Thanks. I'll have a close look at it. A few months ago I did search e-r.org and read old threads regarding telescopes and had bookmarked a few potentials.
I've been reading a lot of hard sci-fi the last couple of years and it has rekindled the astronomy bug in me. I had a cheap telescope in my twenties and always wanted something better in order to view the solar system with better clarity and distant star groups as well. Now, I have the money and time and no excuses ...

 

[braumeister]

FWIW, I have the original Astroscan (discontinued), bought in the 70s. Good enough for Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons.

 

[HFWR]

FWIW, I have the original Astroscan (discontinued), bought in the 70s. Good enough for Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons.

Though it requires special equipment to see Uranus...

 

[braumeister]

Though it requires special equipment to see Uranus...

And an astronomical amount of paper to wipe out any Klingons that may be present.

 

[Bestwifeever]

It looked super enough to me; maybe it helps to be suggestible and easily impressed.

 

[BradC]

I believe is was Neil deGrasse Tyson who originally pointed out something like:

Supermoon is to regular moon as 16-inch pizza is to 15-inch pizza.

Would you really call a 16-inch pizza a "superpizza?"

 

[6miths]

Yes I saw it low on the horizon as it was setting this morning and not particularly striking but the moonshine was impressive.