Mooned~Take a peek @ it tonignt...now.

[mickeyd]

If the full moon tonight looks unusually large, it is not your imagination – it is the biggest and brightest full moon to be seen for 15 years.

Look up tonight for a spectacular treat in the sky - Times Online

 

[bbbamI]

Ahhh, yes...I sat on my patio earlier and gazed at it...so lovely.

The next closest encounter with a full moon this large will not be until November 14, 2016.

That date is my birthday...I'll be 59 years old....

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Ahhh, yes...I sat on my patio earlier and gazed at it...so lovely.

The next closest encounter with a full moon this large will not be until November 14, 2016.

That date is my birthday...I'll be 59 years old....

Bah kids..

Doubt if Ill still be breathing..

Its just getting dark here.

 

[bbbamI]

Doubt if Ill still be breathing..

Oh...sorry...I apologize...didn't mean to offend anyone.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Oh...sorry...I apologize...didn't mean to offend anyone.

That pussycat avatar is staring at me.

 

[freebird5825]

we are cloud covered here and it is 9:15 PM, so i missed it.

this is no bull, and i didn't realize it until the i looked at the article date...

today would have been my 20th anniversary of being hired into federal civil service. i just turned 50 in September. Fellows feds will recognize this combo as the age/service yrs for eligibility for a FERS early out retirement.
this was the holy grail that i decided to forego, when i FIREd on April 1, 2007 because enough was enough was enough. plus the "early out" was always a political thing to be granted or denied where i w*rked.

so it is very fitting that a larger than normal MOON should appear on this date of all dates.
please feel free to virtually join me in chucking a moon in honor of the occasion.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

had i known maybe i would have gone down to the beach where often is a full moon drum ceremony complete with bellie & fire dancers. been a few times. pretty fun. little chilly tonight; brrrr, it's dipped down to 61 degrees. gorgeous, clear night though. maybe will take a little walk. that's some beautiful full moon. thanx for the, um, heads up.

trivia question: why does the moon look larger at the horizon?

because the brain is fooled by thinking that anything overhead must be farther away than anything that is in front on you. so as the moon rises, it appears to get smaller than when it is on the horizon. cool huh?

 

[bbbamI]

please feel free to virtually join me in chucking a moon in honor of the occasion.

I just honored your request in the physical manner...now I have to put my cat's eyes back in their heads!

 

[freebird5825]

I just honored your request in the physical manner...now I have to put my cat's eyes back in their heads!

i am honored by your virtual...um...mooniness ?

 

[waltwill8]

Went walking at 5am to get my moon tan. Enough snow around here to make it seem like day. Got within 50 yd. of 4 deer. Made my day, and the sun's not even up!

Blizzard tomorrow. (Probably will have to use the dang treadmill.)

 

[donheff]

If the full moon tonight looks unusually large, it is not your imagination – it is the biggest and brightest full moon to be seen for 15 years.

Look up tonight for a spectacular treat in the sky - Times Online

trivia question: why does the moon look larger at the horizon?

It is an illusion (Google "moon illusion"). There are a lot of theories (e.g. atmospheric effects, nearness to the horizon causing apparent largeness) but if you measure the actual width (e.g. use an outstretched finger) it will be .5 degrees - just looks bigger.

By the way, this is an inopportune time for a full moon. The Geminid meteor shower is tonight and the moon will rise right in the middle of their origin.

 

[TromboneAl]

because the brain is fooled by thinking that anything overhead must be farther away than anything that is in front on you. so as the moon rises, it appears to get smaller than when it is on the horizon. cool huh?

That's the theory I like also. If you ask someone how far away the sky seems, straight up, they say about a mile or two. Ask them how far away the horizon seems, and they'll answer with a larger distance.

 

[mickeyd]

It is an illusion (Google "moon illusion").

All this discussion about the size of the moon may have some truth to it. I recall viewing the moon about 6PM on the horizon last night and it looked really big to me (of course I was influenced by the article above). I went outside again about 9PM and the moon, now overhead, appeared to be smaller than 3 hours earlier. I assumed that it had moved away from the earth in 3 hours, thus appearing smaller. It never occurred to me that it could be an illusion. I need to brush up on my astrophysics I guess.

Armed with this theory, I will make sure to test it in 2016.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i used to think it looked larger at the horizon because there i had local reference points, trees and buildings and the like.

but i think this theory of relativity goes that looking out to the horizon is actually a shorter distance than looking up to the sky because when the brain sees the sky it sees stars which are very far away. so the moon looks closer (or bigger) at the horizon and farther away (or smaller) up above.

the theory i love about the moon is how people think a full moon affects tides moreso than a half moon because the moon is full as if it has more mass & gravitational pull than a half moon. hmmm, maybe it is the light after all. that would explain a lighted bulb's pull on moths.

 

[Rustward]

Saw it last night. It was remarkable.
Full moon and usually the following two or three moonrises are nice to see.

 

[harley]

We missed the really big one, due to the 3 inches of rain that fell in 24 hours. However, it's cleared up now and still really beautiful. We have too much ambient light to be able to see much of the Geminids anyway.

 

[TromboneAl]

Anyone know how much bigger it is than it's average size (e.g. 3%). I'm guessing that this is part media hype and I'm too lazy to search.

 

[Rustward]

Third paragraph:
"The unusual feature of tonight is that the perigee also coincides with a full moon, which will make it appear 14 per cent bigger and some 30 per cent brighter than most full moons this year – so long as the clouds hold off from blocking the view. "

I noticed it without being told about it. Didn't see this thread or media coverage until Saturday morning.

 

[TromboneAl]

That is significant. I noticed it when I woke up and was wondering if someone had their lights on. But we haven't had any clear skies since I read about this.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

if the moon moves tides, with it this close, would now be a good time to weigh myself?

 

[REWahoo]

Sounds like an excellent time to weigh yourself, weigh your alternatives and maybe even weigh anchor...