A Photogenic Supermoon

 

The Supermoon through the pines.
Digiscoped with Vortex Razor Scope
and Sony Cybershot P&S

I betcha the Supermoon over the weekend was one of the most photographed moons in history!

Word of the Supermoon spread like wildfire and with the availability of cameras on phones, digital cameras, and digiscoping, thousands (maybe even millions?) of people were out there trying to capture an image of the moon Saturday night.

Supermoon is a fairly new term, popularized in 2010 to identify the moon that will APPEAR larger and brighter than all others that calendar year.  This year's Supermoon appeared 14% larger and 30% brighter than a typical full moon.

 

 

One day before Supermoon, 98% full.
Digiscoped with Vortex Razor Scope
and Sony Cybershot P&S

The experts use the word "appear" because the moon is not actually larger or brighter, but just looks that way.  The moon is at perigee (a new term for me) meaning the day each month that the moon is at its closest to earth.  On the night of Supermoon, it was a mere 221 thousand miles away!

So let's get together for next year's Supermoon, which will occur on June 23, 2013.  See ya then!