Supermoon

The moon was full tonight, but if you're an old moon-watcher like me, you might have noticed that it appeared to be a bit larger than usual. This is no optical illusion. The so-called Sturgeon Moon occurred close to perigee, the astronomical term for our satellite's closest orbital approach to our planet. It's not a terribly large difference—less than two percent—but the moon will appear to be on the order of five- to eight-percent larger than usual, which is noticeable but not dramatic. Aside from the fact that the tides will be a little enhanced, nothing astronomically super is in the offing. Still, it was pretty, even though I had to pull together a composite to capture a moon with a face rising through a hole in the trees. The scene is almost painterly, and I often wonder just what we did before Photoshop.