Extra-Full Moon Tonight

If you looked at up at the moon tonight and thought the moon looked a bit larger then usual, you were correct. The moon passed closer to the earth today then it has in the last 15 years or will again till mid November 2016. The moon is about 221.6 thousand miles from earth, or about 17.4 thousand miles closer then average. It looks almost 15% bigger and 30% brighter then normal. Below are two pictures I took, but they will not compare to seeing it for yourself. Go outside and look up before it is to late.






http://www.timesonline.co.uk
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article5327206.ece

"If the full moon tonight looks unusually large, it is not your imagination – it is the biggest and brightest full moon to be seen for 15 years.

Each month the Moon makes a full orbit around the Earth in a slightly oval-shaped path, and tonight it will swing by the Earth at its closest distance, or perigee. It will pass by 356,613km (221,595 miles) away, which is about 28,000km closer than average.

The unusual feature of tonight is that the perigee also coincides with a full moon, which will make it appear 14 per cent bigger and some 30 per cent brighter than most full moons this year – so long as the clouds hold off from blocking the view.

The next closest encounter with a full moon this large will not be until November 14, 2016."