Three Supermoons Three Months in a Row

[MorningSong]

Just in case you didn't know....


July 10, 2014: In June of last year, a full Moon made headlines. The news media called it a "supermoon" because it was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2013. Around the world, people went outside to marvel at its luminosity.

If you thought one supermoon was bright, how about three….? The full Moons of summer 2014—July 12th, August 10th, and Sept. 9th--will all be supermoons.

The scientific term for the phenomenon is "perigee moon." Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee"). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright.

This coincidence happens three times in 2014. On July 12th and Sept 9th the Moon becomes full on the same day as perigee. On August 10th it becomes full during the same hour as perigee—arguably making it an extra-super Moon."

It might seem that such a sequence must be rare. Not so, says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory.

"Generally speaking, full Moons occur near perigee every 13 months and 18 days, so it's not all that unusual," he says. "In fact, just last year there were three perigee Moons in a row, but only one was widely reported."

In practice, it's not always easy to tell the difference between a supermoon and an ordinary full Moon. A 30% difference in brightness can easily be masked by clouds and haze. Also, there are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon looks about the same size as any other.....

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/10jul_supermoons/

[countertheanimator]

What's even more epic for me is that i am going with friend tomorrow evening to do some star watching, moon watching with a telescope! Wow! Can't wait!

[DeDukshyn]

grumble, grumble <---<DeDukshyn still hasn't saved up enough for his new telescope, and is really wishing he had>

[countertheanimator]

You could use binoculars. Not as good, but would be cool.
What kind of telescope do you want to buy?

[ghostrider]

hey don't laugh , the 50 dollar Wal-Mart telescope comes with two lenses , and will show you amazing things on the moon ...and the changing colors/atmosphere around it , blue , yellow , white , then back to blue ... domes , blinking lights , too cool ... if you have the resources get one and go out on a clear night ... prove science right or wrong with your own eyes ...

[DeDukshyn]

You could use binoculars. Not as good, but would be cool.
What kind of telescope do you want to buy?

Something like this: (Celestron NexStar 6SE) http://www.canadiantelescopes.com/Astrophotography/Astrophotography-Telescopes/Celestron-NexStar-6SE-Computerized-Telescope.html#.U8F8iGdOWCo

Portable, and something I can use for astrophotography so that seems like a good fit. I wouldn't mind a dobsonian, but those aren't very portable.

http://www.canadiantelescopes.com/Celestron-NexStar-6SE-Computerized-Telescope-image.gif?resizeid=-2&resizeh=400

http://images.buzzillions.com/images_customers/09/61/31908118_241552_raw.jpg

[countertheanimator]

Nice model, i have this one:
http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/uncategorized/powerseeker-50az-table-top-telescope
http://www.celestron.com/ImageGen.ashx?image=%2Fmedia%2F2457%2F21009_powerseeker50az_large_1.jpg&altImage=%2Fimages%2Fwhite800x600.png&width=800&height=600&constrain=true&allowupsizing=false&compression=98

It has cool zooming and i just used it today at the local hill to do some moonwatching. The light burnt my eyes. I still feel it :3

But it was awesome! Using the maximum zoom, you can make the moon look like it's in your neighborhood. And two more lucky things that happened:
-A satellite passed by, which is pretty rare in here, but already packed, so i could not see it.
-A meteorite fell! Wow it was bright, but i did not see that either.

Oh and in my astronomy pack, i also have this:
http://www.sz-wholesaler.com/userimg/942/957sw2/solar-flashlight-with-keychain-t2072-873.jpg

It's a lifesaving for sure. Anyway, where we go watching, there is unusual high level of winds. I'm sure taking a turbine next time!

[DeDukshyn]

Nice model, i have this one:
http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/uncategorized/powerseeker-50az-table-top-telescope
http://www.celestron.com/ImageGen.ashx?image=%2Fmedia%2F2457%2F21009_powerseeker50az_large_1.jpg&altImage=%2Fimages%2Fwhite800x600.png&width=800&height=600&constrain=true&allowupsizing=false&compression=98

It has cool zooming and i just used it today at the local hill to do some moonwatching. The light burnt my eyes. I still feel it :3

But it was awesome! Using the maximum zoom, you can make the moon look like it's in your neighborhood. And two more lucky things that happened:
-A satellite passed by, which is pretty rare in here, but already packed, so i could not see it.
-A meteorite fell! Wow it was bright, but i did not see that either.

Oh and in my astronomy pack, i also have this:
http://www.sz-wholesaler.com/userimg/942/957sw2/solar-flashlight-with-keychain-t2072-873.jpg

It's a lifesaving for sure. Anyway, where we go watching, there is unusual high level of winds. I'm sure taking a turbine next time!

I still have an old Jason Comet Chaser 480 (about 27 years old), it works ok, but it needs a major tune-up, and I couldn't see a good way to collimate it. Anyway, it came with a specific filter for viewing the moon. I always wondered why the moon would need a filter for viewing, but maybe it's easier on the eyes? In the image below you can see the filter bottom right.

It's ok for viewing the moon, but it doesn't do too much more than that, maybe I'll see if I can find a telescope pro around here who can collimate and clean it up for me, it is still in decent shape ...

http://www.astromart.com/images/classifieds/710000-710999/710262-1.jpg

[araucaria]

The Moon certainly seems to be clamouring for attention these days. I'm looking forward to hearing the amateur astronomers tell us what this is all about.

[countertheanimator]

The Moon certainly seems to be clamouring for attention these days. I'm looking forward to hearing the amateur astronomers tell us what this is all about.

It's all about experience. :)

[araucaria]

The Moon certainly seems to be clamouring for attention these days. I'm looking forward to hearing the amateur astronomers tell us what this is all about.

It's all about experience. :)
Hi there, countertheanimator; I'm sure you are getting some pretty cool experiences seeing the Moon up 'close', and those other things as well. I was thinking more in terms of astronomers getting to see details on the Moon that they don't normally get to see. Many of them have cameras on their telescopes and if lots of them started tweeting pictures of things that shouldn't be there, then this might be a way of making a first step to public disclosure.

One of the reasons the Americans went to the Moon was to look into numerous ‘lunar anomalies’ dating back 450 years and mostly reported by eminent astronomers, and listed in Nasa Technical Report R–277 of July 1968.


http://www.creationism.org/books/nasalunar/NASA_R-277_1950_67.htm
http://www.creationism.org/books/nasalunar/

[Becky]

I saw it on Friday and it was amazing - lovely clear sky

[countertheanimator]

As a matter of fact, I've seen our satellites (Human satellites) in the moon orbit, twice, while watching it with telescope.
Also, once there was some kind of an explosion on the northern side of the moon.