Super Moon May 5th

[Lighthawk]

Super Moon as explained by NASA

May 5th at 8:34 pm Pacific Daylight Time will be the full moon.
This one is somewhat special, as one minute after the full moon rises, it will also be at it's closest to the Earth (perigee), resulting in an extra large moon, 14% larger.

Beware errant werewolves, 'yotes, vampires (actually I think they are hiding, right?), or other forms of lunacy. Or get yourself off that bar stool and take your Hornitos outside for a bit of howling Me? I'll try to be set up with a tripod somewhere and a flask of tequilla, just in case.

 

[ski3pin]

Lighthawk, thanks for the info! This got me thinking of things celestial. We also have an annular solar eclipse on May 20, 2012
Annular Solar Eclipse
a transit of Venus on June 6, 2012, and a total lunar eclipse on November 13, 2012

 

[EdoHart]

And, the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will peak the following night. A (nearly) full moon will make it hard to see meteors, but I'll be outside anyway, looking up.

http://earthsky.org/...est-before-dawn

 

[MarkBC]

Be careful out there!
Here's an excerpt from what Wikipedia says:
"Philosophers such as Aristotle and Pliny the Elder argued that the full Moon induced insanity in susceptible individuals, believing that the brain, which is mostly water, must be affected by the Moon and its power over the tides,"
I'd think that the bigger the Moon, the bigger the risk.

 

[Smokecreek1]

830 here and what a nice round moon off to the SE-well I'll be under it Sunday night

Smoke

 

[highz]

The clouds finally cleared off here on the mountain, and the Moon is noticeably brighter to my eye. It almost hurts to look at it until my pupils contract. Very cool. I'm looking forward to images of moonlit landscapes from the talented photographers at WtW.

(By the way, we're taking infrared spectra of objects tonight, where the moonlight will affect us less).

 

[CraggyMan]

My contribution the the Super MOON hype. 14% bigger is not very much IMHO. Always fun to get out in the desert and you never know how the atmospherics will line up for such an event. All the beautiful puffy clouds we had all day up until about an hour before sunset/moonrise dissipated and left a thick blue haze for the moon to plow through. Our inattention to compass headings and smart phone apps almost caused us to miss the best part as Luna climbed over the distant ridge.

 

[Lighthawk]

Nice one, Craggyman!

 

[takesiteasy]

My contribution the the Super MOON hype.

That is a beautiful scene! Thanks for sharing the photo. We had too many clouds here in Minnesota to see the moon.

 

[highz]

Beautiful image, Craggy. No, not much bigger, but definitely brighter.

 

[ski3pin]

Very nice, craggy! Thanks for sharing.