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Bajaboy
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Sky Show Tonight: Biggest, Brightest Full Moon of 2008
Get out and enjoy it!
Zac
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081212-full-...
Sky Show Tonight: Biggest, Brightest Full Moon of 2008
Andrew Fazekas
for National Geographic News
Updated December 12, 2008
Don't expect to spot an Apollo lunar lander. But tonight, weather permitting, sky-watchers around the world will see the biggest and brightest full
moon of 2008.
Although a full moon happens every month, the one that rises tomorrow will appear about 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than the other full
moons seen so far this year.
That's because our cosmic neighbor will be much closer than usual. The moon will be at its closest perigee—the nearest it gets to Earth during its
egg-shaped orbit around our planet.
At its farthest from Earth, the moon is said to be at apogee. (Find out more about tonight's perigee and watch a moon-facts video in National
Geographic News's space blog, Breaking Orbit.)
Perigee and apogee each happen generally once a month, but the moon's wobbly orbit means that its exact distance at each of those events varies over
the year.
The moon's phase can also be different during each apogee and perigee.
"Typically we don't have the full moon phase and perigee coinciding at the same time, so that makes this event particularly special," said Ed Krupp,
director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.
What's more, tomorrow's event will be the closest lunar perigee since 1993, at 221,560 miles (356,566 kilometers) from Earth.
The moon's farthest apogee for the year will occur a couple weeks later on December 26, when the natural satellite will be 252,650 miles (406,601
kilometers) from Earth.
Highest Tide
Because this unusually close perigee is happening during a full moon, it is expected to have an effect on Earth's tides. (Get more moon facts.)
"While high tides happen each month when the sun, Earth, and the moon are aligned, there is going to be an enhanced effect, with the moon being the
closest it's been in more than a decade," said Ben Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California.
"This would result in extra-large tides in regions that are susceptible to them, like Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy." (See map.)
Features in the Bay of Fundy create a sloshing wave action that, in the bay's funneled and tapered basin, give rise to vast tidal ranges.
But even in such places, the effects of perigee are often modest, in most cases measurable in inches. But perigee tides can be higher if there happens
to be a storm surge at the same time.
Observing the effects of perigee on the moon itself can be a bit trickier. Most casual observers may only notice a difference in the moon's
brightness, Burress said.
The moon's apparent larger size might be most noticeable as it rises above the horizon at sunset.
That's when an optical illusion usually comes into play that makes the full moon seem larger—set against familiar Earthly objects—than when it's
higher in the empty sky.
"This combination of the moon illusion and close perigee gives sky-watchers a chance to see the biggest and fullest moonrise possible," Burress said.
What makes this event particularly nice, the Griffith Observatory's Krupp added, is that everyone around the world can witness it without the need for
special equipment, just clear skies.
"If you are charmed by the idea of seeing the biggest and brightest full moon visible in 15 years, be ready to go outside at sunset and watch for the
rising moon in the east," he said.
"Or stay up all night and watch as the moon rides through the overhead skies—either way it will be a beautiful sight."
© 1996-2008 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
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k-rico
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Last night's moon rise was awesome, it's huge! Tonight's should be better. Watch it creep up over the horizon. I'll leave the time and direction to
look up to you.
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Skipjack Joe
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When the moon hits the sky ....
you know the rest.
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805gregg
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Shoot, it's been over cast here, thanks for the info, I wondered why my cat keep going out earlier each night. I hope it's clear tonight.
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Paulina
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
you know the rest. |
Good one, and my most favorite; Fly me to the moon and let me dance among the stars...let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars...
It's beautiful here in Los Osos, and was a sight to see on the Bahia weather link as well.
P<*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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ckiefer
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Last night around midnight the moon had a HUGE ring around it. First time I have ever seen this.....it was beautiful!
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2-tie-dye-4
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Yup, here in Jerome, as well, an ice crystal ring around it as it peers around the mountain. Snow's on the way here by sunup. A "doozy" predicted.
Asuncion is looking mighty fine right now.
We\'re all here cuz we\'re not all there, mountain stranded time
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2-tie-dye-4
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Skipjack,
Most excellent!!!!
We\'re all here cuz we\'re not all there, mountain stranded time
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Russ
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Clouds, Clouds, Clouds, Clouds everywhere Clouds! No Pics
Can you name that tune in four note or less?
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jorgie
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Location: on another road,again
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Mood: on the road....again,again
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" like a bigg-a piece a pie , that's ........"
The nearness and the moon illusion are something , great stuff and real wonderment......we really are not alone
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shari
Select Nomad
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Gotta love Nomad....thanks for that Zac....Juan will pull the panga up extra high today to accomodate the super high tide...good thing there isn't
alot of swell.
The moon entertained us at last night tuna party at the campground...Barbareno and Timo put on a great fiesta...outstanding food as usual, sashimi,
lobster salad, thick gringo steaks by Surfdoc, baked cabrilla...dancing in the moonlight.....ahhhhhh bajjjjjjja.
I've looked at clouds from both sides now.
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Bob H
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| Quote: | Originally posted by jorgie
" like a bigg-a piece a pie , that's ........"
The nearness and the moon illusion are something , great stuff and real wonderment......we really are not alone |
I always thought it was "like a big-a-pizza pie, that's amore..." Dean Martin!
Bob H
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Udo
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No moon tonight here in Running Springs, SNOW! Finally.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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ckiefer
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| Quote: | Originally posted by udowinkler
No moon tonight here in Running Springs, SNOW! Finally. |
We have a little place in Fawnskin....snow there too?
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Bajaboy
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sounds like a grand time...we stayed in doors enjoying chicken soup with dumplings....and did enjoy the moon shining into our bedroom as we drifted to
sleep.
zac
| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
Gotta love Nomad....thanks for that Zac....Juan will pull the panga up extra high today to accomodate the super high tide...good thing there isn't
alot of swell.
The moon entertained us at last night tuna party at the campground...Barbareno and Timo put on a great fiesta...outstanding food as usual, sashimi,
lobster salad, thick gringo steaks by Surfdoc, baked cabrilla...dancing in the moonlight.....ahhhhhh bajjjjjjja.
I've looked at clouds from both sides now. |
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boe4fun
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When an eel bites your toe and he won't let it go - that's a moray!!
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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bajalera
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Thanks for all that interesting info, BBoy. Now, if only the clouds will go away . . . . .
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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vandenberg
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Lera, there you go.
A wunderphoto.
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astrobaja
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I'm seeing the moon rise over the sierra right now, a very beautiful sight to be sure! BUT being able to notice a difference in angular size from a
perigee moon and an apogee moon is pretty difficult to do! You're much more likely to notice the difference in tidal activity! The most likely time to
see some sort of size difference is when it rises in relation to the horizon and you have something to guage the differential against.
Ckiefer: I saw the ring last night too! Very cool, probably due to high cirrus ice crystals refracting light. Most times here in Baja there is very
little high water vapour to create such an effect! Saw it quite a bit back in ontario Canada!
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ckiefer
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I'm so glad someone else saw it too. It was huge and amazing!!! Right above the patio off the bedroom, as if it was there just for me.....
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