Originally posted by Liam
Er... it gets this close every 28-ish days
All this 'super' nonsense means is that this particular orbit, the moon's closest approach just happens to coincide with when it's full.
Still pretty cool, mind you.
Just had the spotting scope out to look at the moon and tomorrow will be at it's closest for two decades, couldn't wait though as the sky is so clear tonight.
Good isn't it.
Brilliantly clear night here.
Nice clear sky tonight - so perishing cold! Screen was frozen when I went to the pub at 8:00 this evening.
Too much light pollution to have a proper look-see at the sky where I live - Ipswich's orange glow in one direction, Colchester's in the
other, and a white glow from Felixstowe docks at 90 degrees to both. My brother lives in between Inverness and Nairn, and the night sky there is
magnificent.
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
Just had the spotting scope out to look at the moon and tomorrow will be at it's closest for two decades, couldn't wait though as the sky is so clear tonight.
you actually see the surface features clearer with a crescent moon as the shadows shows the shape of the mountains and craters better
Just come in from walking the dog and blimey; never seen the moon so bright. "Pitch" is a black lab and I often loose sight of her across
the fields this late at night, but not tonight. I could see her almost like in daylight, except when she really got into deep shadows.
However, the moon looks tiny. I have often seen it much bigger than this.
I am looking forward to trying to catch it just over the horizon tomorrow night.
Regards
Jon
quote:
Originally posted by Liam
Er... it gets this close every 28-ish days
All this 'super' nonsense means is that this particular orbit, the moon's closest approach just happens to coincide with when it's full.
Still pretty cool, mind you.
14% bigger than when at its furthest isn't really very much but tbh the seas do look a bit easier to make out without a telescope
interestingly when it looks huge at the horizon it's just an optical illusion as taken with a camera and measured it's infact no bigger than
when it's high in the sky, it just seems so
Ohhh - I'll be out with the 8" refractor tonight 
8" refractor? Blimey that's big for a refractor.
What make/model is that?
I made my own 10" reflector years ago. Trying to get around to re-making it to make it more portable. The original was a 4ft long Sonotube
(cardboard tube). Not easy to get in/out of the car
Ive put mine outside to acclimatise!
We're all doomed!
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
We're all doomed!
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
quote:
Originally posted by Liam
Er... it gets this close every 28-ish days
All this 'super' nonsense means is that this particular orbit, the moon's closest approach just happens to coincide with when it's full.
Still pretty cool, mind you.
These seem to think it's closer than it's been in 18 years, we'd better put them straight.
. It's just a perigee (point in moon's orbit closest to earth) and we get one of those
every ~28 days. Ok sure the actual distance at each perigee is slightly different, and this one is indeed about as close as they get (full moon
perigees, or super-moons if you must, always are), but we had one just as close last year (well almost - within 0.005%), closer in 2008, closer in
2005... these just didn't coincide with a full moon quite so perfectly - 2 and 4 hours apart in '08 and '10 instead of just one tonight
- not that that would make any difference to how full it looks to anybody. In fact, just about every year we get a close perigee full moon that to
anyone without serious measuring instruments looks every bit as 'super' as tonight's moon. 
. And the media are lapping it all up.
What's the best time to view it then?
Phil
Well perigee is pretty much right now (ten past 7 ish), and it was most full almost an hour ago. But dont worry, it's not moving very fast - it'll look the same all night. And pretty much the same tomorrow night. Try catching it on the horizon to maximise the apparent size (due to a trick of our brains).
I've decided this thread needs a photo.....
......So I've nicked one of Mrs Fozzie's
May 21 2010
That reminds me....I heard last week the Irish are going to put the first man on the SUN !!
They'll be alright......
......They're going at night !
[Edited on 21/3/11 by stevegough]
can't be bothered with all that, I'm waiting fro the mega hyper moon.
And here's an example of the high standard of reporting we can expect from the British tabloids...
Daily Fail supermoon story
Never before has so much old cobblers been assembled into one page... 
quote:
Originally posted by Hellfire
What's the best time to view it then?
Phil
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
Never before has so much old cobblers been assembled into one page...