JAMES: HEY THERE STAR GAZERS.
I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.
DEAN: AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR
THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
WERE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY.
WELL JAMES, ITS ALMOST THAT TIME AGAIN.
JAMES: WHAT TIME IS THAT?
TIME FOR THE GUN SHOW?
DEAN: NO NO NO, PUT THOSE AWAY.
ITS TIME FOR THE SUPERMOON PHENOMENON!
JAMES: OH RIGHT.
FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS THE MEDIA HAS HYPED THE FACT THAT THE MOON CHANGES ITS DISTANCE
FROM US, AND THEREFORE ITS SIZE IN THE SKY.
DEAN: AND WHEN YOU COMBINE A FULL MOON ON THE NIGHT
IT IS CLOSEST TO US FOR THE YEAR, YOU GET A…
BOTH: SUPERMOON!
DEAN: PEOPLE REALLY SEEM TO LOVE WHEN THIS OCCURS.
THEY SIT OUTSIDE ON A BLANKET OR LAWN CHAIR, FACE EAST, AND WATCH THE BIG MOON RISE.
AND THIS YEAR, IT'LL HAPPEN ON THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 3RD.
JAMES: BUT IS A SUPERMOON THAT SUPER TO BEHOLD?
DEAN: LET'S SHOW YOU.
DEAN: OKAY WE HAVE OUR SKY SET FOR DECEMBER 1ST
FACING EAST AT 7PM.
THE MOON HAS LEFT ITS FIRST QUARTER PHASE AND IS NOW A WAXING GIBBOUS.
JAMES: WHEN THE MOON IS WAXING, THAT MEANS EACH DAY
MORE OF THE LUNAR SURFACE WILL APPEAR LIT TO US ON EARTH - UNTIL THE FULL MOON ON DECEMBER
3RD.
DEAN: BUT ON DECEMBER 1ST, THE MOON WILL BE ABOUT
AS HIGH AS THE SEVEN SISTERS STAR CLUSTER OVER TO THE LEFT.
BUT IF WE MOVE FORWARD ONE NIGHT, AT THE SAME TIME OF 7PM, THE MOON WILL HAVE
SHIFTED CLOSER TO THE STARS OF TAURUS THE BULL.
JAMES: YOU CAN USUALLY RECOGNIZE TAURUS BY THE FIVE
STARS IN A V-SHAPE THAT MAKE UP HIS FACE.
THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE V IS THE BULLS EYE, BRIGHT ORANGE ALDEBARAN.
I SAID YOU CAN USUALLY FIND TAURUS THIS WAY, BUT THAT BIG, BRIGHT MOON MIGHT MAKE IT TOUGH
TO SEE THE FAINTER STARS.
DEAN: THAT BRINGS US TO DECEMBER 3RD, THE NIGHT
OF THE SUPERMOON.
HMM, DID YOU NOTICE ANY BIG CHANGE IN THE SIZE OF THE MOON BETWEEN DECEMBER 1ST AND
NOW?
I DEFINITELY DIDN'T.
I THINK WE BETTER FLY UP THERE AND TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS
SO-CALLED SUPERMOON.
DEAN: HERE'S THE ZOOMED-IN VIEW OF THE MOON FROM
DECEMBER 1ST.
AT THIS POINT, THE MOON IS ABOUT 223,000 MILES FROM US.
LET'S SKIP AHEAD TO DECEMBER 2ND.
THE MOON IS GETTING FULLER AND SLIGHTLY CLOSER TO US - AND NOW IS LESS THAN 222,000 MILES
AWAY.
AND ON THE SUPERMOON NIGHT OF DECEMBER 3RD HERE IS THE FULL MOON AT ONLY 221,000 MILES
FROM EARTH.
THAT'S HARDLY A SUPER DIFFERENCE!
JAMES: BUT WHAT IF WE COMPARE A SUPERMOON TO A PUNY
MOON - A FULL MOON THAT IS FARTHEST FROM THE EARTH?
THE NEXT, PUNIEST FULL MOON WILL BE ON JULY 27TH, 2018.
IF WE PUT THIS PUNY MOON NEXT TO THIS YEARS SUPERMOON…
WELL, NOW THAT'S A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE.
THE PUNY MOON IS OVER 251,000 MILES AWAY!
THAT'S 30,000 MILES FARTHER THAN THE 2017 SUPERMOON.
DEAN: THIS MAKES THE DIAMETER OF OUR SUPERMOON APPEAR
14% LARGER THAN THE PUNY MOON AND, IN TOTAL, MAKES THE SURFACE AREA 30% LARGER.
SO A SUPERMOON IS SIGNIFICANTLY BRIGHTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE FULL MOON.
YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DETECT THE CHANGES DAY TO DAY,
BUT THEY ARE REAL!
DEAN: THE BEST TIME TO SEE THE SUPERMOON IN ALL
ITS GLORY, IS JUST AS IT RISES.
NOW WE'RE FACING EAST AT 6:30PM ON DECEMBER 3RD.
IT MAY NOT BE COMPLETELY DARK OUTSIDE SO YOU MIGHT HAVE TROUBLE FINDING THE MOON RIGHT
ON THE HORIZON.
BUT AS THE SUN SETS BELOW THE WESTERN HORIZON YOU'LL START TO SEE THE BIGGEST FULL MOON
OF THE YEAR CREEP ABOVE THE EASTERN HORIZON.
JAMES: THE MOON ALWAYS LOOKS LARGER TO US WHEN IT'S
NEAR THE HORIZON.
THAT'S CALLED THE "MOON ILLUSION", BUT…
THAT'S A TOPIC FOR ANOTHER SHOW.
DEAN: IF IT'S CLOUDY ON DECEMBER 3RD,
NEVER FEAR.
THE VERY NEXT DAY, DECEMBER 4TH, THE MOON WILL BE ALMOST EXACTLY AS CLOSE AS IT WAS
ON DECEMBER 3RD.
IN FACT, IT'LL BE LESS THAN 1% FARTHER, SO YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
JAMES: IT WON'T BE THE FULLEST MOON…
DEAN: OR THE SUPER-EST…
BUT YOU CAN DEFINITELY GET OUTSIDE AND HOWL AT IT.
JAMES: SO BUNDLE UP, GET SOME FRIENDS AND FAMILY
TOGETHER, AND SIT OUTSIDE TO WATCH THE SUPERMOON RISE ON DECEMBER 3RD.
IN OTHER WORDS…
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!