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Subscribe to RSSSkywatchers were treated to a "supermoon" on Saturday night. NBC's Charles Hadlock reports.
The supermoon of 2012 is over, but the joys of moongazing are not. Even though Saturday night's lunar showing was the biggest and brightest of the year, the views are nearly as good anytime around the full moon — tonight, for example.
Photographs of the supermoon sight streamed out over online channels, including Twitter feeds, Facebook updates, blog postings and slick slideshows (such as our own roundup). They also streamed into msnbc.com's FirstPerson in-box. I've put together a selection of 10 submissions here.
The kind of supermoon we saw last night isn't exactly a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. The phenomenon, also known as a perigee moon, can be seen whenever the full moon occurs while it's near the closest point of its elliptical orbit around Earth. Last night, the moon was just 221,802 miles away from Earth, or about 15,000 miles closer than average. The moon's angular size was 14 percent wider than it is at maximum distance, and it was 30 percent brighter than minimum moonshine.
If we define a supermoon as the biggest, brightest full moon of a given year, next year's supermoon will be almost as good as this year's, on June 23, 2013. The supermoon of 2014 will be brighter, and the 2016 supermoon will outdo last year's, which got the moongazing fad started. EarthSky News has the schedule for the next few years. Some rightly note that the moon is worth watching on every night of the year, and that the full moon isn't necessarily the best time to see all the detail the lunar disk can offer. But there's nothing wrong in having an annual holiday devoted to moongazing, is there?
The next big sky event is coming up on May 20, when the new moon blots out most of the sun to create an annular solar eclipse. A wide swath of the Asia-Pacific region and North America will see a partial eclipse, while folks situated along a narrow track of territory extending from China across to the Oregon-California coast and down to Texas can witness a "Ring of Fire," in which the moon's disk covers all but the thin rim of the sun's disk. That'll be an amazing thing to see, but make sure you use proper eye protection. You can get the details from my eclipse viewing guide, and learn more about the appeal of an annular eclipse.
There's an astronomical connection between this weekend's supermoon and this month's "Ring of Fire": Because the moon was nearly as close as it can come for the full-moon phase, it's nearly as far out as it can go for the new-moon phase. Thus, the moon's apparent size is significantly smaller than usual when it tries to covers up the sun — and that's why we have a ring of fire rather than the fully blacked-out sun of a total eclipse. For that, we'll have to wait until November. Stay tuned in the weeks and months ahead for more about all these astronomical phenomena, plus June's last-in-a-lifetime transit of Venus.
Submitted by Isaiah Blount / Smooth Images / UGC
Florida photographer Isaiah Blount of Smooth Images submitted this picture of an airplane crossing the disk of the supermoon on Saturday night.
Submitted by Penny Wainwright / UGC
The supermoon looms in the skies of Louisiana, outside Farmerville.
Submitted by Campbell McCubbin / UGC
Campbell McCubbin says this is the "first glimpse of the 'supermoon' from my deck overlooking Semiahmoo Bay, White Rock, B.C., Canada."
Submitted by Prashanti Pasupuleti / UGC
Prashanti Pasupuleti of New Delhi, India, says the supermoon is "within my reach."
Submitted by Angie Lucero / UGC
Wisps of clouds waft over the supermoon in this view from Albuquerque, N.M.
Submitted by Maria Johnson / UGC
Maria Johnson took this picture of the moon around 1 a.m. ET on Sunday in Sarasota, Fla.
Submitted by Larry Shiflett / UGC
The supermoon rises over a sailboat in the waters near Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Submitted by Bianca Fister / UGC
Spring flowers are silhouetted against the supermoon in this picture from Bianca Fister of Hilton, N.Y.
Submitted by Joe Leonard / UGC
The supermoon peeks over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in a picture from Joe Leonard of Taos, N.M..
Submitted by Justine Daniel / UGC
The supermoon is partly hidden by clouds in the skies above St. Augustine on the island of Trinidad.
More about the supermoon:
- Slideshow: Greatest hits from the supermoon
- How big is that supermoon anyway?
- Wonders of sun, moon and sky
- Five moon mysteries
- Five moon myths
Many thanks to all our FirstPerson photographers, including Lynn Schneider, John McNamara, Josh Warner and Mitzi Easley.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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For what little time the sky was clear here, The moon was well above the horizon when I finally did get to view it. It was bright though that is for sure. Seems like any time there is something going on in the sky it will usually be obscured by clouds. There are some nice pictures of the moon that they showed
killroy, western Washington?
No, In Northern Ontario Canada, The sky was cloudy until 1:30 or 2:00 A.M. So there was not much to notice as to the size of the moon.
It was huge, intimidating, awe inspiring, for a moment I even experienced a sense of fear... until of course I realized it was my neighbor bent over in her house coat.
I live in Breckenridge, CO and it was so overcast that you couldn't see the moon at all. Very disappointing.
Slow news day...
Psalm 8:3
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
Psalm 108:19
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.
Psalm 148:3
3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.
That's really stupid.
not as stupid as you
No...that's really stupid, worse than disgusted...
It's a shame that the suns motion is relatively static when compared to the earth, thus invaliding the scripture that you just quoted.
Yeah, God gave us the moon to show us the seasons just like he made the earth flat. Really stupid.
Percecusion always comes from the ignorant and stupid. These people are usually uneducated when it comes to scripture. When asked if they ever read the Bible all you'll get is a deer-in-the-headlights look as the sound of crickets can be heard in the background.
quite something to reach out and touch the face of God.
foxhorn72
Right or not. I liked it. Right or not. You still were voted on most!
From the photos, I especially liked the black and white with the spring flowers against the background of the moon. All of them were beautiful in their own way though. The supermoon was a breathtaking subject.
I'm definitely going to visit the local observatory on May 20th.
Thanks for the photos and links, Alan!
They are impressive photos without the use of a telescope ....
Tonight should be nice too ....
A vote for you Darrah ....
Thanks Alan ....
It was beautiful here in Central Ky. We stepped out on our porch about 11pm and just stood in awe of the size and beauty of it.
I so wanted to get shots of this, but we had nothing but clouds and rain.
Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing...
This is when we should have launched a Moon mission. Would have needed less fuel to get there.
thats not the way it works, you dont aim at the moon and shoot it.....
there's a painting of the super harvest moon, which occured in 2010, here...
http://www.etsy.com/listing/91348847/super-harvest-moon-over-lake-george-2010?ref=v1_other_2
with a description of the event...
I had actually not read or even seen any news stories about the supermoon, but I did notice how the moon seemed bigger than usually, really beautiful and honey-colored -- a honeymoon. Have heard of "blue moons", seen many lunar eclipses and looked at harvest moons, hunter's moons, but the supermoon is news to me.
I was reminded of the Jim Carrie movie Bruce Almighty.
I always love to see the harvest moon. The "red" moon was beautiful to see. It happened a few yrs. ago.
Then there's the egg moon in the Spring where it appears to be pink because of all the pollen in the air.
As millions of people viewed the supermoon treat around the world, it reminds us that we are one. One moon, one planet and that we are here to enjoy the beauty our planet has to offer, certainly not the destruction.
I live in Los Angeles and I saw the moon last night. I don't know what all the hoopla is about because to me it looked the same size as always. I saw a "supermoon" a couple years ago and it looked ginormous, but this time? I saw no difference in the size at all.
I'll show you a supermoon.
It looked no bigger or smaller than usual.
I honestly don't see what all the fuss was about.
And, I didn't feel any warm fuzzies. Most people on the planet would just assume stab us in the back and spit on our corpse than give us a drink of putrid water.
The hype was more grandiose than the event itself. the change in apparent size is to small for us to notice.
Supermoon? Never heard of it. Must be terminology created and hyped by the media again... didn't look much different than any other full moon.
I'm glad you wrote this comment, because I thought exactly the same thing, and I almost always go out to check out the full moon from my front yard, when it's out at night.
It didn't look anything like the pictures in the article, but then I suspect it's forced perspective that the photographers are using.
I have to disagree with you 4. It looked bigger from my perspective, although it wasn't just spanning across the sky.
Bella luna,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Moonstruck? Hardly... It rained. We were waterlogged.
However, like, but ... hey? It ditn't like hit the Earth, oranything, right? So, like
wats the bigdeal? No werewolfs and no bloodsucking vamps either, right? Oh yeah,
politicians... so ok there really are blood suckers waiting for us after all... and they
don't wait for a full moon, new moon and any old moon does just fine wit dem tangs. Gawd
save us from dem rich mans dat wait to suck all dat lyfe from us-uns like we be a big
fat juicy grape... HALP! Sabe usN's. Save US ALLuns from de BAD boys in politiks.
Unfortunately for those who did not witness the Supermoon that night or think it was no different in size or color, millions like myself did witness it with our own eyes. You probably didn't look at it while it was at its "closest point in it's elliptical orbit around the Earth," as stated in the article. This phenomenon could be seen for a long time before the moon finally rose in the night sky and went further from our planet. I'm sorry if you missed it. :(
I saw the phenomena, and it was vastly overrated. Maybe it depends on your geographic location or the expectations or drugs you were on.
I agree that all the hype was overrated. I am a photographer and was looking forward to getting some great shots with a huge, greatly detailed moon over the lake. I did get a few decent shots, but nothing that I couldn't have gotten of almost any other full moon. It was pretty impressive as it came over the horizon and for about 20 minutes thereafter, but once it was up, that was it. The only real difference I noticed as far as when it was supposed to be at it's "peak" is that it was a bit brighter than usual, but not any bigger.
Try to get it.
I completely agree. I'll go one step further and ask what does the moon have to do to empress people, have a "woman in the moon" turning giant cartwheels and dripping in huge diamonds? Darn!
heah brian210
i am definetely more sure that the moon in the sky is much prettier than yours
Anyone else find it somewhat humorously ironic that the Supermoon took place during the opening US weekend for "The Avengers?" Super heroes...super moon. Ah, I need a coffee...lol.
i thought the moon was very beautiful and it was nice to see in the sky
it was also nice to see the planet venus shinning so bright too
i have never seen a full moon so big, bright and beatiful
the pics on the website are very beautiful too
i wish i had a better picture of the moon than i have
for me it was a chance in a lifetime-just gorgeous
hopefully it will come around again
Attention Fox News Republicans: The following information and pictures are called SCIENCE. This may be disturbing to Fox News watchers and may not be suitable for Rush Limbaugh viewers and any perceived facial pictures on the moon that resemble SATAN is purely coinicidental.
Just think..the moon is only 6000 years old and is a perfect sphere with no blemishes...must watch Fox News....must watch Fox News..
This was Prom weekend for my school. Many of our students spent time strolling the courtyard of the venue enjoying the moon. I know many "practical" posters are saying, "What's the big deal?", "It was overrated.", "I honestly don't see what all the fuss was about." But, to those students, it made a very romantic backdrop for the biggest night of their school year. So, sometimes you need to just forget yourself and enjoy the show.
It was a gorgeous sight once the clouds dispersed, and made a marvelous end to a special day - college graduation at RU in Virginia.
Thanks for those who shared the pics. I did not know the super moon was going on. I was enjoying good grilled steaks with all the trimmings with the family Saturday night when I caught a glimpse of the moon and I immediately picked up my 17 month old grandson and pointed to the moon. He looked at it with me and said moon......Ah! seize the moment......The simplest things in life is front of us within reach.........
I got some amazing shots over the water, some of which I'd say are more focused than the ones featured in this article. I guess it's too late to submit them?