NA right now: Supermoon (Sun pm)

Full and bright considering the over-powering amount of smoke in my area.
 
exncsurfer said:
:needpics:
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Actually...I've been getting a kick out of all the photos they're showing on the morning news here. Any moon can look big in photos with the right equip. Besides, photos could never do justice to what I saw last night.
 
Someone told me on a completely unreliable source that supposedly this doesn't happen again for like 80 years, which I'm really happy about, since it means I won't have to hear the stupid news channels talking about "supermoon" every newscast for three or four days again ... before I die. :)
 
It was very bright and big-looking last night in VT, coming up over the ridge. Very dramatic actually. I was driving back from a hike and my first thought was, hunter's moon? Then I remembered it was a perigee full moon so I stopped, got out, and tried to take a picture with my iPhone, but thanks to all the auto junk features the iPhone camera has, you can't even see the moon at all in it.
 
denverpilot said:
Someone told me on a completely unreliable source that supposedly this doesn't happen again for like 80 years, which I'm really happy about, since it means I won't have to hear the stupid news channels talking about "supermoon" every newscast for three or four days again ... before I die. :)
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Nate, you're screwed.

Exaggerated "supermoon" BS happens every few years. It's always the brightest moon since X, where X varies. This time it's a bit further back than usual.

Humans can't tell 30% brighter by eye from one night to the next, let alone years. Anyone who thinks they could tell without instrumentation is wrong.

The thing that amazes me is that it wasn't even full last night. Who noticed that? Looked one day short to me.

This supermoon BS is just the perigee and full moon phase coinciding. It has as much significance as someone else's odometer rolling over at 100,000, and is quite frankly just as obvious. It still subtends less than a degree on the sky.
 
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Taken from my porch two nights ago:

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Significantly, taken by a modest Canon "SuperZoom" digital camera.
 
MAKG1 said:
This supermoon BS is just the perigee and full moon phase coinciding. It has as much significance as someone else's odometer rolling over at 100,000, and is quite frankly just as obvious. It still subtends less than a degree on the sky.
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Yup, and actually, MUCH less than a degree. Closer to a half degree. Varies between about 29.4 and 33.5 arcminutes from extreme perigee to extreme apogee.

The director of the planetarium at my former employer used to ask audiences to estimate the apparent size of the Moon using their hand or fingers at arm's length. Most people put out their fist or even splayed-out hand with their fingers stretched out.

The correct answer, of course, is about one-third the width of your thumb.
 
It's always a "super" moon. Sheesh, it's a quarter the size of the earth! Relatively speaking, moons around Jupiter are like BBs around a basketball. Other planets must be embarrassed!!

Might go on a night flight after dinner. Love to light up those airports with the PTT button. :D
 
I am going out right now to watch it pop, while I am bbqing (or whatever that verb was which POA prefers!) Tonight is going to be even better! Owoooooo!
 
denverpilot said:
Doesn't work for me either. Hehehe.
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Uh, you're supposed to hold your thumb at arm's length. ;) Anyway, as Mari points out everyone is different. For me it actually is about a third (mostly because I have long arms), for Mari it's three-quarters, maybe for you it would be a full thumb's width. The main point of the exercise is, most people think the Moon looks a lot bigger than it really does.
 
If you can't get a good supermoon photo due to cloud obscuration, here's an approved alternate.
Corn or flour and size all at pilots discretion.

CxRQMqAUoAAJC0r.jpg
 
azure said:
Uh, you're supposed to hold your thumb at arm's length. ;) Anyway, as Mari points out everyone is different. For me it actually is about a third (mostly because I have long arms), for Mari it's three-quarters, maybe for you it would be a full thumb's width. The main point of the exercise is, most people think the Moon looks a lot bigger than it really does.
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They also seem to think the sun is much smaller. It's actually just about the same size on the sky.
 
azure said:
Uh, you're supposed to hold your thumb at arm's length. ;) Anyway, as Mari points out everyone is different. For me it actually is about a third (mostly because I have long arms), for Mari it's three-quarters, maybe for you it would be a full thumb's width. The main point of the exercise is, most people think the Moon looks a lot bigger than it really does.
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Hehehe. Ironically this is my CFI DPEs pet peeve.

"Add a little power..."
"What's a little?"

"I suggest about 2100 RPM..."
(Simulates student locking eyeballs with tachometer and not looking outside during landing...)

Let's try that again...

"Is the runway rising in the windshield compared to your aiming point we talked about? How do we make that stop?"
"Add power...?"
"Right... smoothly add enough power that it stops rising. There you go... now is it falling? That's too much power...."
(But the student stayed eyeballs outside...)

Hehehe. He'll drive CFI candidates crazy who use slang like "a little power"... it's his thing.

Which is why I laughed and had to take the photo. He'd have immediately have held his thumb to his face with the instructions given. ;)
 
A reliable source told me that the moon is closer to the earth than normal because of Climate Change and that if not for the Kyoto Accord it would hit us!

Do you think a Honda Accord and a Kyoto Accord have the same fuel economy, safety, and maintenance trends?
 
rolivi said:
A reliable source told me that the moon is closer to the earth than normal because of Climate Change and that if not for the Kyoto Accord it would hit us!

Do you think a Honda Accord and a Kyoto Accord have the same fuel economy, safety, and maintenance trends?
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Stop watching CNN!
 
rolivi said:
A reliable source told me that the moon is closer to the earth than normal because of Climate Change and that if not for the Kyoto Accord it would hit us!
Do you think a Honda Accord and a Kyoto Accord have the same fuel economy, safety, and maintenance trends?
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You must have paid enough Moon Credits, otherwise , Pow - it woulda hit us!
 
rolivi said:
A reliable source told me that the moon is closer to the earth than normal because of Climate Change and that if not for the Kyoto Accord it would hit us!

Do you think a Honda Accord and a Kyoto Accord have the same fuel economy, safety, and maintenance trends?
Click to expand...

Dang it. I heard it was all about Kyoto Accordions and invested in a warehouse full of accordions. Now what?
 
A couple from last night...

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All I had was a 300mm lens so tried to get more situational/environmental shots. It was a heck of a moon, for sure.
 

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Did a couple landings at about 9:30 last night at French Valley. Less moonlight than I imagined, but French Valley's runway lights are amazing...and taxiway lights define the exits really well. Did 5 clicks for MIRL.

Pretty sunsets the last couple o' nights here in SoCal too.

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