Biggest full moon for years enhanced by shooting stars

Look up tonight for a spectacular treat in the sky

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.

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.
article

For those interested, tonight is the night to get out your telescope!



NASA - Biggest Full Moon of the Year

Dec. 9, 2008: No, you can not see Neil Armstrong's footprint. But go ahead and look: The full Moon of Dec. 12th is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.

[edit on 11-12-2008 by Thurisaz]

Hey this is very good news!!

I greatly appreciate having this knowledge tonight, as i am going to an outdoor get together and am now armed with some interesting knowledge.
I highly appreciate this post. (especially since its this very night)

(Bows) I am in your debt...

I was checking it out earlier on the way home - almost crashed...

IT looks tight tonight...


It's so clear and large I can see the Shard and few other towers and structures...

I actually considered how this would affect the tides considering that the moon will be 30,885 miles closer!

"Get Ready For The Largest And Closest Full Moon Of 2008
Followed By The Largest And Closest Full Moon Of 2009"

Well the Moon is constantly moving either toward Earth or away from it. And it has a 31 thousand mile range between its closest and most distant points. Way back on May 19th of this year the full Moon was at its farthest for the year, over a quarter million miles away or to be exact 252, 472 miles from Earth. But on Friday the 12th it will be will be 30,885 miles closer only 221, 587 miles away. Wow! And believe me you'll notice the difference in fact it will look over 12% larger.

NOAA

The moon is the primary source of the gravitational forces which cause the tides. The proximity of the moon in relation to the earth does have an effect on the range of the tides at any given time. In each of its 28-day elliptical orbits, the moon reaches a "perigee," its closest point of approach to the earth. During these periods, there will be a slight increase in the average range of tides. The increases in the range of the tides is seen by a slightly higher than average high tide, as well as a slightly lower than average low tide. Additionally, twice each month, around the times of the new moon and full moon, when the earth, sun, and moon are nearly in line, there is an increase in the average range of the tides. These are called "spring tides." Three or four times a year, the occurrence of a new or full moon will coincide with the "perigee" of the moon, which Mr. Wood has termed the "perigean spring tides".

The difference between the "perigean spring tides" and the normal tidal ranges for all areas of the coast is small. In most cases the difference is only a couple of inches. The largest difference occurs in certain areas of the Alaska coast where the range of the tide was increased by approximately 6 inches. But considering that these areas have an average tidal range of more than 30 feet, the increase is but a small percentage of the whole (less than a 2% increase).

Most people who live along the coastline know that coastal flooding can occur whenever there are strong onshore winds, whether there is a "perigean spring tide" or not. Additionally, this flooding will be worse if the storm strikes around the time of high tide rather than around the time of low tide.

But in ALL cases, it is the storm winds which cause the coastal flooding, not the tides. Coastal flooding is the result of meteorology (the weather) not astronomy (normal tidal fluctuations). All astronomical considerations are accounted for in the NOS tide and tidal current predictions.

From what I have read so far, there is little cause for concern.



[edit on 11-12-2008 by Thurisaz]

Wow, another highly interesting point. Ill even be on the coast (oregon) tonight, i hope to give you some feedback on what i encounter...

i went for a run last night and i noticed the moon seemed brighter.. i wouldn't say it looked any bigger how ever it did seemed yellower..

I am going to attempt to take some photos tonight and post them up.
The cloud cover is shocking though at the moment though, hope that clears up!

Anyway, anyone else manage to get some good close up pics, post up



reply to post by purplemonkey



I noticed your in Australia, like myself. Well, its only 5 pm here so perhaps if you go out tonight, you might see it. cheers


[edit on 12-12-2008 by Thurisaz]

I walked outside last night and wondered why it was so utterly bright. I could see down the end of my garden without a torch! I sat out for a bit, it was beautiful and the hedgehog wandering around the garden agreed I'm sure

Dammit! Looks we're in for cloud cover here tonight. I'll keep an eye on things and if it clears up I'll head out of town with the tripod and DSLR and see if I can get a couple of good moon shots.

In fact, if I manage to pick up the new Tele Zoom Lens I want (early Christmas present to myself ) then it'll give me an even better excuse over the weekend to get out and about.

Pictures, Pictures!!
I cant wait to see some new pictures of the moons many weird and intriguing structures! Hope some people get some great shots!
STAR+FLAG

[edit on 12-12-2008 by Man on Fire]

Clouded over for the night here in the South. Shame.

It was a total bust, for skygazing here in Southeast Michigan. was like a fog, yet not low enough, to interfear with most driving.Iwill be watching again tonight.good luck to all that missed last night, remember tonight is the twelvth!

Good thread.

I was outside with one of my mates (andy ashe 30) and my brother taking picks of the moon last night. (manchester)

We saw a large halo around the moon, it was big. Probably something to do with reflection of light but it was definiately a spectacle.

I will post some picks up soon. You cant see it too great, maybe someone can have a play with photoshop and better colours etc.

Originally posted by Thurisaz
I am going to attempt to take some photos tonight and post them up.
The cloud cover is shocking though at the moment though, hope that clears up!

Anyway, anyone else manage to get some good close up pics, post up

reply to post by purplemonkey

 

My friend David will be posting some cool pics we took last night looking at the moon from manchester uk, we were outside his house smoking a cigarette and looked up and there was a beautiful halo around the moon and we tried to film it with night vision camcorder but it did not come out so then we tried taking photographs with and without flash and managed to get some decent pictures with it clearly visable proving it was not our eyes playing tricks nor was it camera flash effects. we tried to come with an explanation to which i thought it was like when your in fog and you have a ring around you, it was much like that but only the ring was around the moon only, i am sure there is nothing unusual about this from a science perspective however we are 31 years of age and have NEVER seen this effect before. It could be coinciding with the fact that the moon was 35000 miles closer according to previous op post or perhaps due to unusual brightness but what was also interesting was that we could see a star on the outer ring and stars further outside this ring but nothing within this ring/halo! very cool regardless of explanation! keep your eyes posted for these pics later today in this thread by david ifty.

[edit on 12-12-2008 by Thurisaz]

reply to post by Andy Ashe 30UK


ahaha dave, didnt think you would be this quick at posting a message making mine look silly right below yours lol, get the pictures downloaded....

reply to post by Thurisaz


A good thread and very interesting. I will be taking my telescope with 3ccd video camera attached to see what I can come up with. Although its very cloudy here in London at the moment, hope the skies clear tonight. Looks to be an interesting few days as this weekend there is a meteor shower. I think its the Geminids meteor shower.

reply to post by ibegood2


is it bizarre that we in north west of uk had fog also during this rare brightness of the moon??

From Bunbury Western Australia it is huge. It has a cool blue halo and almost a yellow glow to it. It is the brightest I've seen it....... in as long as I can remember. Thanks for the info, though I still think there is sooooooooooo much more to the moon and some of the other planets than the powers that be tell us........

Might go back out later and take some pics......just have to see if we have that 'unusual' night only haze!?!

Originally posted by Grock
Hey this is very good news!!

Sorry, I have to respectfully disagree. For some perhaps, but for those of us trying to observe the Geminids meteor shower, it could not be worse news. Moonlight plays havoc with meteor observations and cuts the amount of meteors you can see right down

We only get one chance a year to see the Geminids - the moon can be seen all the time. The timing of this moon is about as bad as it gets