The Moon

[Blue Velvet]

Woke up quite early this morning to see a large and almost full moon setting in a part of the sky that I've never seen it before... quite odd and slightly disturbing.

Did a little search and the BBC had one story.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4533670.stm

Anyone else noticed this? And is it especially low on the horizon in the Southern Hemisphere or otherwise in a different part of the sky?

Almost a once in a lifetime phenomenon.

 

[Lacero]

Optical illusion no doubt.

I've seen an intensely orange moon about 3 times its usual size setting very close to the horizon one time about 6 years ago. It was beautiful, eerie, scary and wondrous. I must have been gazing at it for over 10 minutes. Would love to see something like that again.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​

 

[Blue Velvet]

Optical illusion no doubt.

Oh, of course... what was I thinking?
I'm sure that's what the Royal Greenwich Observatory also thought.

 

[xsedrinam]

Actually, it's quite beautiful.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Optical illusion no doubt.

I've seen an intensely orange moon about 3 times its usual size setting very close to the horizon one time about 6 years ago.

I didn't see the moon myself last night, but the article mentions that the moon is indeed closer than usual at the moment. It also mentions an occasion last June when the moon was unusually close to the horizon – in this instance it was an optical illusion, created by the fact that we don't usually see the moon close to a point of reference for us to judge its size. I remember seeing this and the bloody thing looked massive. There's an article on it here.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I didn't see the moon myself last night...

You can see it now. Setting almost north?

Space 1999.

 

[diddy]

I've seen an intensely orange moon about 3 times its usual size setting very close to the horizon one time about 6 years ago. It was beautiful, eerie, scary and wondrous. I must have been gazing at it for over 10 minutes. Would love to see something like that again.

I think its called a 'harvest moon.' (?) It really is beautiful. And creepy. I've seen it a couple times, and each time I thought, "the moon just shouldn't be doing that."


I bet its got something to do with science or atoms or ...something.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

You can see it now. Setting almost north?

Space 1999.

Ha! Luckily, thanks to our big north-facing window I don't even have to get off my arse!

Hmm... that does actually look a little bigger than normal. The position isn't that unusual, though – I don't think its any higher than normal.

 

[dodonutter]

I didn't see the moon myself last night, but the article mentions that the moon is indeed closer than usual at the moment. It also mentions an occasion last June when the moon was unusually close to the horizon – in this instance it was an optical illusion, created by the fact that we don't usually see the moon close to a point of reference for us to judge its size. I remember seeing this and the bloody thing looked massive. There's an article on it here.

Its also due to the fact our atmosphere acts as a magnifying glass when the moon is close to the horizon. Think the moon normally covers about 0.5º of sky but its more than that when its close to the horizon so its not just our brains having a point of reference.

I live in Southampton and was walking home that night. Did think the moon was really high in the sky and seriously bright. Stood and looked at it for a minute or two through the clouds a lot like the picture from the BBC website. It was very impressive. I'm looking forward to NASA building their new launch vehicles to take people back to the moon. I'm too young to have seen it the first time round. Hope im around by the time they send a missions to Mars

 

[iSaint]

Its also due to the fact our atmosphere acts as a magnifying glass when the moon is close to the horizon. Think the moon normally covers about 0.5º of sky but its more than that when its close to the horizon so its not just our brains having a point of reference.

us 'mercans call it a harvest moon, though it's a bit late in the year for that really. When it rises early in the evening it's a beautiful sight. dodonutter explains it the way I understand it.

Get a pair of binoculars out one moonless evening and see how many stars you can see with them. Many, many more than with the naked eye.

 

[SamIchi]

Optical illusion no doubt.

I've seen an intensely orange moon about 3 times its usual size setting very close to the horizon one time about 6 years ago. It was beautiful, eerie, scary and wondrous. I must have been gazing at it for over 10 minutes. Would love to see something like that again.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​

I've seen one like that when I was vacationing in Virginia. It was cool. We chilled at the beach watching it.

 

[Lau]

I (think) I noticed it too. I woke up about 3am and looked out of the window because the light seemed really strange and white. I thought it might have snowed or something, and the moonlight was reflecting more than usual. But it hadn't, and although I was half-asleep I did register that the moonlight seemed brighter, and that it seemed to be in a different place than usual, because it usually seems to shine right on my face.

But, as I was half asleep, I just went back to sleep and forgot about it. Or I would have done, if it wasn't for this thread.... I'll have a look tonight and see if anything's weird.

 

[Ashapalan]

all i've noticed is the immense brightness of it at the moment. Its amazing how much brighter the nights are

 

[Jaffa Cake]

all i've noticed is the immense brightness of it at the moment. Its amazing how much brighter the nights are

We had a good look at the moon on our way home last night – I was a little concerned that I might be thinking it was looking brighter simply because I'd read this thread, but my girlfriend (who was unaware of the closeness) commented on how bright it was looking.