There’s A Big Moon On The Rise

“Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly.”

― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet   

On November 14, 2016 the full Moon came closer to Earth than it has since 1948, the same year that there was a surprise victory in a US presidential election – President Harry Truman and New York Governor Thomas Dewey. Perhaps it is fortunate that we won’t witness another so called “supermoon” like this until 2034.

The term “supermoon” is not astronomical, but it originated in modern astrology. The astronomical name for this celestial phenomena is the perigee-syzygy of the Earth–Moon–Sun system (hence the popularity of the non-scientific term supermoon). It occurs when a full Moon comes closest to Earth as it follows its slightly elliptical orbit around us.

A Supermoon Occurs When a Full Moon is Closest to Earth in its Elliptical Orbit (http://earthsky.org)

A bigger Moon seemed like a good excuse to watch this lunar event from Panorama Point on Boulder’s Flagstaff Mountain…

Panorama Point On Flagstaff Road

Panorama Point Overlook

 

This overlook faces East with a view of the City of Boulder. The University of Colorado is directly below. The lakes are the Valmont and Baseline Reservoirs .

The Daytime View From Panorama Point at 12:18 PM

Waiting for a Super Moonrise in 15 Minutes at 5:07 PM

The first hint of moonlight occurs on the horizon at 5:33 PM…

Can You See The First Light of The Silvery Supermoon?

At 5:40 PM The Supermoon Rises Above Low Clouds

At 5:46 PM It Is Clear of The Clouds

Here It Is At 6:08 PM Reflecting Off Of The Valmont Reservoir.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture a clear image of the moon and the city lights at the same time so I opted to expose for the Earth rather than the Moon. Here’s a photo I took of the (same) full Moon on 7 December 2014 at 9:39 pm.

Same Moon Different Year

 

Tags: astrology, Boulder Colorado, Boulder Reservoir, Flagstaff Mountain, Flagstaff Road, Panorama Point, perigee-syzygy, Supermoon, University of Colorado, Valmont Reservoir