Did You See The Saturday Night ‘Super Moon’?

March 20, 2011

The full moon brightened the Saturday night sky as the biggest full moon seen in almost two decades.

The moon was at perigee, its closest point to Earth – only 221,565 miles away. The last time the full moon coincided with an extreme perigee was March 8, 1993.

The moon appeared 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter in the sky than lesser full moons — when the moon is farthest from the Earth. But to the casual observer, it was difficult to tell the difference without comparing the moon to a nearby object as in the top photo.

Pictured top: The moon rises behind the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Saturday night (courtesy NASA). Picture inset: The moon rises in Walnut Hill, NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

16 Responses to “Did You See The Saturday Night ‘Super Moon’?”

  1. Claudia on March 21st, 2011 9:36 pm

    I was in Germany at that time and my father kept asking me to come and look outside and when I finally looked I saw the back yard was very bright. It was a great view.

  2. interested reader on March 21st, 2011 1:01 pm

    Thanks William, for the beautiful pics. It was an awesome sight. Glad to have a picture to remember how it looked.

  3. William on March 21st, 2011 11:52 am

    I’ve had a few people ask about the settings/camera used for the photo. So here goes:

    Canon Digital Rebel XTi
    manual exposure — 1/160sec f/5.6 100 ISO (no flash)
    300mm focal length

    It was taken hand-held without a tripod, bracing against a post for support. It cropped a slight “smart sharpen” in photoshop.

  4. Horrific! on March 21st, 2011 11:48 am

    AL yes these new cameras aren’t like the old 35 millimeter’s where you
    could use special lenses and filters and then have the film pushed when
    processed. ARRRGH! LOL

  5. Horrific! on March 21st, 2011 11:44 am

    I watched it from my back veranda and it really was a sight to see. It would have
    been a lot nicer if it hadn’t have been accompanied by gun shots.

  6. T on March 21st, 2011 7:16 am

    Beautiful :)

  7. AL on March 21st, 2011 12:00 am

    awesome photo! Mine turned out like a bright white ball in the dark, no lunar features. Bummer.

  8. Tig Decon on March 20th, 2011 10:26 pm

    We saw it this morning. It looked like a huge sunrise. But the sun was rising in the east and the moon was setting in the west. It was absolutely amazing.

  9. Spring Lover on March 20th, 2011 3:30 pm

    We saw it at it’s best around 7:30…When it was big..bright orange with a complete bright circle around it. Our universe is a beautiful place. I wish all people would treat it that way!

  10. JIM W on March 20th, 2011 2:27 pm

    I am currently visiting in Phoenix AZ and what a sight from here. It looked almost as it was hand painted in the sky. Absolutely beautiful. Our world with it’s beauty at it’s best.

  11. Big John on March 20th, 2011 9:05 am

    I was at the Flomaton Carnival admiring the way it lit up the sky. Beautiful.

  12. From Century on March 20th, 2011 9:03 am

    i WAS STANDING OUT SIDE THE CENTURY CARE CENTER A PATIENT WAS STANDING OUT THERE SHE SAID LOOK AT THAT MOON THATS WEIRD

  13. AUSURAE on March 20th, 2011 5:50 am

    Best birthday ever its so pretty I have never seen anything like its so awesome

  14. wharf rat on March 20th, 2011 1:01 am

    Yeah I did. I like good music. I like nature in its glory. I watched that old moon come up and knew exactly what a worm moon is. It does not take a lot to entertain me. The moon came up behind the smoke from the “controlled” burns from the seashore. It started as a red glow, and spread its glow across across the bay. The only problem was the dozens of other people who were loudly enjoying it to. Our paradise has been discovered.

  15. Anonymous on March 20th, 2011 12:42 am

    Pretty neat to see it so bright!

  16. Santiago estraca on March 20th, 2011 12:41 am

    The moon was beautiful Saturday night kinda scary too,if that makes any sense. I just thought it was funny how people were saying it would cause a disruption on earth as far as natural disaster.none the less it was nice seeing our universe in it’s beauty..

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FEATURE TOP STORY, Features, News