Tuesday, April 07, 2020
Perigee ("super") Full Moon April 8, 2020
Looking north-east after Full Moon on Wednesday, April 8 at 22:00
ACSTWednesday April 8 is a perigee full Moon. Strictly Full Moon is at 3:30 ACST and perigee is at 12:00 ACST.
The Full Moon is a perigee Moon when the Full Moon is closest to the Earth. This is the best Perigee Full Moon this year and better than the March 10 perigee Moon.
Full Moon April 8 22:00 AEDST, 16 hours after perigee compared with the Full Moon of November 1 02:00, apogee -20h Click to embiggen.
As perigee is when the moon is below the horizon, at moon rise the Moon is receding from Earth but still larger than March Full Moon at the Same time.
However, don't look just at Moon rise as the horizon illusion will make the Moon look bigger than it is, wait until it is a decent way above the horizon. anywhere between 9 am to 11 am the Moon will still be a decent diameter. The location of the Moon to the north-east will be obvious.
You won't see much of a difference if you compare it with them memory of last months full Moon (which was also a perigee Moon). You will need to either remember the apogee Moon of September 13/14 or wait until the October 31/November 1 apogee Moon for the best size contrast.
A full Moon at perigee has been called a "Super Moon", this is not an astronomical term (the astronomical term is perigee syzygy, but that doesn't trip off the tongue so nicely), but an astrological one first coined in 1979 (see here).
Still, it is a good excuse to get people out and looking at the Moon. A guide to photographing the Perigee Full Moon is here.
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:18 pm 
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