Super Moon v. Micro Moon

Posted on 29 November 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From NASA’s Astronomy Pic of the Day:

Explanation: Did you see the big, bright, beautiful Full Moon Wednesday night? That was actually a Micro Moon! On that night, the smallest Full Moon of 2012 reached its full phase only about 4 hours before apogee, the most distant point from Earth in the Moon’s elliptical orbit. Of course, earlier this year on May 6, a Full Super Moon was near perigee, the closest point in its orbit. The relative apparent size of November 28’s Micro Moon (right) is compared to the famous May 6 Super Moon in these two panels, matching telescopic images from Bucharest, Romania. The difference in apparent size represents a difference in distance of just under 50,000 kilometers between apogee and perigee, given the Moon’s average distance of about 385,000 kilometers. How long do you have to wait to see another Full Micro Moon? Until January 16, 2014, when the lunar full phase will occur within about 3 hours of apogee.

Mark your calenders!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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5 Comments

  1. acardnal says:
    29 November 2012 at 7:57 PM

    “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.” At least that’s what Dean Martin said.

  2. rodin says:
    29 November 2012 at 9:57 PM

    Yes, indeed, I saw it as I drove to choir practice. Really had to concentrate on the driving.

  3. The Masked Chicken says:
    30 November 2012 at 9:28 AM

    ““When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.” At least that’s what Dean Martin said.”

    Yes, and there’s amore of the moon in the first picture than the second :)

    The Chicken

  4. tealady24 says:
    30 November 2012 at 1:09 PM

    I love astronomy! Years ago at a community college I took one of the best courses in my life on astronomy. To this day I can still tell you about a waning or a waxing gibbous moon! Love it.

  5. StWinefride says:
    1 December 2012 at 2:47 PM

    Moonstruck!!!

    Since I saw the post the other day, I kept thinking that I was sure I had seen a film, many moons ago, that had the word Moon in the title, was full of Italians and had that Amore song in it!

    Not sure I’d watch it now, too much immoral behaviour – however, I remember liking it at the time – it’s full of crazy Italians! Crazy in a good way.

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