The perigee and apogee Full Moon (2014, 2015)
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Photographed from mid-town Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Astronomers heartily dislike the term "supermoon". It fosters an exaggerated and completely unrealistic idea that when it is closest to Earth ("perigee") in its monthly elliptical orbit, somehow the Moon appears strikingly and perhaps breathtakingly larger than it does on other occasions. The news media constantly overblow what is really nothing more than a geometric curiosity.
In fact, the difference in size between an apogee Full Moon (when the Moon is furthest from Earth) and a perigee full Moon is undetectable to most observers.
This collage of two photos of Earth's natural satellite shows the difference in apparent diameter between a perigee and an apogee Full Moon. There certainly is a difference, but it's simply not that much! It's roughly the same as the difference in apparent size between a 17" and a 15" pizza viewed from a distance of about 60 metres; and viewed about five months apart!
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Technical information:
Nikon D850 camera body on Explore Scientific 152 mm (6") apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 SynScan mount.
Processed in Photoshop CS6
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The perigee and apogee Full Moon (2014, 2015)
***************************************************************************
Photographed from mid-town Toronto, Ontario, Canada
___________________________________________
Astronomers heartily dislike the term "supermoon". It fosters an exaggerated and completely unrealistic idea that when it is closest to Earth ("perigee") in its monthly elliptical orbit, somehow the Moon appears strikingly and perhaps breathtakingly larger than it does on other occasions. The news media constantly overblow what is really nothing more than a geometric curiosity.
In fact, the difference in size between an apogee Full Moon (when the Moon is furthest from Earth) and a perigee full Moon is undetectable to most observers.
This collage of two photos of Earth's natural satellite shows the difference in apparent diameter between a perigee and an apogee Full Moon. There certainly is a difference, but it's simply not that much! It's roughly the same as the difference in apparent size between a 17" and a 15" pizza viewed from a distance of about 60 metres; and viewed about five months apart!
___________________________________________
Technical information:
Nikon D850 camera body on Explore Scientific 152 mm (6") apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 SynScan mount.
Processed in Photoshop CS6
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