Super moon 2012: ‘Gloriously full,’ with 14% more lunar excitement

According to NASA’s calculations, 11:34 p.m. EDT Saturday is the moment when the moon will hit your eye like a big pizza pie, to paraphrase Dean Martin. It’s “super moon” time.

NASA is letting its enthusiasm show in a new video on the subject. “The timing is almost perfect,” it notes. At 11:34 (that’s 8:34 p.m. Pacific), May’s full moon will reach perigee -- the closest point to Earth in its elliptical pattern -- and “only one minute later, the moon will line up with the Earth and the sun to become gloriously full.”

For a bunch of scientists, that’s pretty poetic talk.

The moon will appear 14% larger than other full moons of 2012. “The swollen orb rising in the East at sunset will seem super indeed.”

This doesn’t sound like a super moon -- it sounds like a super duper moon.

Anthony Cook, astronomical observer at L.A.’s Griffith Observatory, is a little more measured in his view of the upcoming phenomenon.

It will be 30% brighter, yes, but that’s 30% brighter than the moon is when it is at “apogee” -- the farthest point in its elliptical orbit around the Earth -- he said.

“I’m a little skeptical that most people would casually see that this full moon looks huge compared to the one that rises six months from now,” he said. “You’re talking about a fairly small size difference in something that’s already small.”

But, not one to spoil the fun, Cook said that careful, observant moon watchers could recognize the super-ness. The best time to do this is when the moon is close to the horizon. The “horizon illusion” makes the moon appear bigger, Cook said, “because you’re comparing it to more familiar things.”

So Saturday night, try to catch a glimpse of the super moon when it’s most likely to appear maxed out -- just as it’s rising. This full moon should leave you at least 14% more impressed.

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