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[Centaur]

The Full Moon during the night of 2010 JAN 29/30 will be at perigee and at the Moon’s closest distance from Earth for 2009-2010 with 356,593 km separating their centers. Oceanic tidal effects will be extreme. The tightest perigees occur around the times of Full Moons with Dark Moons producing very close runners up. Perigee Full Moons are separated by 14 lunar months.

The factors of the Earth being relatively near the Sun, and the Moon being at modest ecliptical latitude will both add to the Moon’s brilliance. The Moon’s significantly northern declination will be helpful to northern hemisphere observers, and its greatest fullness will occur during the late evening while it’s well above the horizon for North Americans.

Not only will the Moon be in opposition to the Sun, but so will Mars. That night the especially bright Full Moon will pass about 6° or 7° south of magnitude -1.3 Mars, depending on your location. Sorry, Mars fanatics, but at least we “lunatics” will appreciate the situation. In any event, it should prove to the credulous multitude that Mars at opposition does not appear as large as a Full Moon, LOL.

Big bright Full Moons are especially fascinating for all of us. Interestingly, due to light and shadow effects, a Full Moon is about twelve times brighter than a Half Moon (first/last quarter position). It’s not mere imagination that some months a Full Moon appears larger than at other times. And their altitudes at local meridian transit can vary considerably over the course of a year and the 18.6-year nodal cycle.

I’ve created a diagram with data that demonstrates the variability of the next 15 Full Moons. At the top are the changing declinations which affect the Moon’s altitude at local meridian transit. Across the center are illustrated the distances between the Earth and Moon. At the bottom can be seen the changes in the Moon’s apparent angular size due to changes in distance. Another chart plots the oceanic tidal effect. Both graphics can be viewed by clicking: www.curtrenz.com/astronomical then going to the Moon page.

Enjoy the spectacle! Descriptions and photos of the brilliant Full Moon passing by bright Mars would be welcome additions to this thread.

[Paulie pchris00]

Good stuff, Curt, and funny too! Now let's hope that it will be clear that night.

[Centaur]

Jan 20, 2010 19:49:35 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Good stuff, Curt, and funny too! Now let's hope that it will be clear that night.

Thanks, Paulie. Clear skies tonight in the northwest suburbs. I hope the same is true in northwest Indiana.

Here’s my photo of the big Full Moon rising this evening. That’s an airplane immediately left of the Moon and Mars to the far left. It was taken from Arlington Heights, Illinois at 17:18 CST. That was 15 minutes after sunset and 39 minutes after moonrise. The Moon was at an altitude of 5.7° and Mars 5.9°. They were separated by 7.0°.

The contrast could have been much better, but as initiator of the thread with a clear sky I had to show you something. Now it’s your turn!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Curt,

Chicago got socked with Lake Effect snow and I only got a very small break at around 12:30 am while letting the dog out.

Neat shot you took.

I hope to head out to the lakefront this evening if it clears up and catch the day after Full Moon on camera.

Let's see how it goes.

[Centaur]

Jan 30, 2010 6:38:32 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Curt,

Chicago got socked with Lake Effect snow and I only got a very small break at around 12:30 am while letting the dog out.

Neat shot you took.

I hope to head out to the lakefront this evening if it clears up and catch the day after Full Moon on camera.

Let's see how it goes.

That bank of clouds you see at the bottom of the picture must have been the source of your lake effect snow, Joe. I was afraid that might be the case. A larger version of the photo is on my website. Good luck tonight!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

No great luck in catching any significant Lunar sights in this round...but a lot of Moon rainbows and Moon dogs about.

No camera handy unfortunately.

[Paulie pchris00]

Sorry, I haven’t been online much lately, but I did read this thread again last Wednesday. For the perigee full Moon and Mars opposition on January 29 I had plans to hang out with some old friends I hadn’t seen in quite a long time, so I knew I’d better get out and set up the telescopes early. I went out around 6:30 P.M. and it was mostly cloudy, though they were low and thin, moving quickly, and I could see both the Moon and Mars through them. Obviously, my views of Mars were compromised, but since I don’t have a density filter, the clouds made my lunar observing more comfortable on my eye. Since conditions were bad, it was cold, and I needed to get ready to go to my friend’s house, I kept the session rather short. I had a feeling the clouds might clear later in the night, but if they didn’t, at least I had those brief looks.

I’ve been keeping my telescopes in my car anyway to shorten cool down time, so hauling them over to my friend’s house was no big deal. I was hoping maybe his kids would want have a look at either the Moon or Mars, so I set up my 4.5” Newt on their back porch. The telescope generated some curiosity, but not enough for anybody to brave the zero degree wind chill. Besides, it was still partly cloudy, and a haze seemed to linger over the clearer regions of the sky. I stepped outside a few times, hoping conditions would improve, but they never did. The only thing that had changed was that around ten o’clock I noticed a half-halo around the Moon. Pretty cool.

After that I put the telescope away, and hung out with my friends until around 3:30 AM. I got home about 4 o’clock, and though the conditions had much improved, I was tired and really didn’t want to subject myself to the cold for very long. I did stand there for a few seconds admiring the bright pair, and then looked over to Saturn, knowing its moment of glory isn’t long off. But that will be another story for another night. It was time for a warm bed.