Friday, March 18, 2011

Don't Miss the Moon on the Eve of the Vernal Equinox!



Photo by Austin Coppick

Have you heard about the "Supermoon" yet? If not, here's the scoop. Tonight, the full moon will be the closest to Earth it has been since December 12, 2008 - and it won't be this close again until November 14, 2016. According to NASA, the moon will be 14% larger and 30% brighter than "regular" full moons.


The best time to see the moon at its largest will be on the horizon, when it rises. You can find out when the moon will rise in your area by going to 40-Below.com and, if you're in the US, just click on where you live on the map. If you're not in the US, you can still find out, but you'll have to find out your latitude and longitude first by going HERE. Just click on your country, put the name of your city/town, then choose from the list.

Saturn will also be highly visible, too. And, if you've got a small telescope, you'll be able to see the rings, too!!! Just make sure you wait until mid-evening before trying because Saturn will have moved far enough away from the moon so as not to out-shine those rings.













And, finally, don''t go freaking out if you hear that the moon's being so close is going to mess with the tides so much that there will be all kids of weird natural disasters occurring!Yes, the Spring Tides along the ocean shores will be higher than they are normally, they're not going to go nuts.

And don't forget to take pictures! If you do and you post them on your site, please leave a link in a comment. I love moon pictures and I'll try to write up a post with everyone's links in it!

4 comments:

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Oh wow! That's cool! Just the right evening for a midnight stroll along a deserted beach. Where can I find a man by midnight? :-)

Gem said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

It's just been rainy and cloudy non stop here in hawaii...the best time for viewing was simply blocked by clouds =(. did not get to see the supermoon...

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

@Gem

We had rain during the meteor shower that was supposed to be spectacular a few months ago. I was so excited about it!
And when we had that last lunar eclipse, I only saw the first little part before the clouds rolled in.
I was expecting the same last night but was happy to be able to actually see the moon rise - it was orange/yellow!