Largest Full Moon of the Year

Photo and text by Bob Kelly

If you were lucky enough to be looking to the east between 6:30 and 7:00 PM, CST, you might have seen a view like this. This particular full moon is the largest looking moonrise you will see this year, because tonight the moon reached its perigee or lowest point in its orbit around Earth. The moon was about 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) closer to the earth tonight, which caused it to look 14% larger and 30% brighter. So if you thought it looked bigger and brighter in the east Saturday night you were right! Here is how it looked about 6:50 PM after it had risen above a cloud bank. It was cold and nippy on the ice covered hill about two miles SW of Nevada, but it was a beautiful sight to see and photograph. There is a very good chance it will look nearly the same on Sunday evening at about 7:44 PM. Dress warm and take a look!