Supermoon (almost)

Posted by Mike on March 17, 2011
Posted in: Astro Photography, Astronomy, Night Photography, Space. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 228 Comments

Saturday is the night of the “supermoon” – a full moon when it is closest to earth.  Has not happened for 18 years.  (Thanks to Sean for the clarification!) I don’t know if we will have clear skies on Saturday so I decided to get a shot of the almost-supermoon tonight.  This was done with my Nikon D7000 camera, a tripod, and an 18-200mm zoom lens.  Settings were ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/125 second exposure.

228 comments on “Supermoon (almost)”

  3. Very cool! I love the detail you got on the moon too. My mother was telling me about this and I was wondering if it has just gone close to earth, far away, every single 19 years. That seems like a lot of times!

    Reply

    • I just read these comments and ran outside and photographed the moon. My camera, sadly, is not fancy nor w/telephoto, but where I live, the sky was chrystal clear! Hope you got your view where you live tonight, Mikalee!

      Reply

  9. I didn’t know this. Would love to see it. Don’t have a zoom lens, but do have a digital and a minolta film camera. Thanks for the info and cool pic.

    Kevin

    Reply

  10. I had no idea 🙂
    The weather’s turning nice, i’ve been in the mood for a good bottle of red, and a nice dinner to pair it with — can this all spell an awesome picnic with my girlfriend if the cloud-cover’s absent? Let’s hope so!

    Reply

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  21. That is beautiful. I wish I hadn’t lost my good camera. What do you think of the recent natural disasters in relation to the supermoon? Related or not?

    Reply

  24. I’ve only just seen a couple of posts pointing out this “supermoon” event that’s coming up – thanks for the head’s up. I only hope that I can see it through the dust in Bamako! I like the fact that you’re trying to pre-empt the possibility of not seeing it.. Nice photo indeed. I also like that you’ve included your settings for us budding photo-enthusiasts. I’m going to see what I can come up with over the weekend. Thanks again!

    Reply

  32. This is one of the most beautiful moon pictures I’ve seen, I do believe. Great job. I’m very much lookign forward to seeing our supermoon tomorrow!

    Reply

  34. Amazing image. Thank you for the reminder and keep taking those incredible photos.

    Regards,
    Mayra
    Saintologie-Co-Founder

    Reply

  36. Great photo! I can’t wait to take my “almost full moon” shots tonight and hopefully (weather-permitting) my”full moon” shots Saturday night to add to my “Shoot the Moon” series. I took some cool photos of the half moon on the evening of the 12th with a large very visible ring around it. Will post at least one at my site probably today. Thanks for posting your photo! Loved it.

    Reply

  40. “…the moon’s closest approach to the earth in 19 years.” Not the case exactly. It’s one of the closest approaches of a FULL moon, not THE moon. The moon comes this close every month, and not close enough to appear noticeably bigger. If it appears bigger, its from a common optical illusion.

    And THATS what happens when an astronomy nerd stumbles into a photography nerd’s blog!

    Nice photo, man!

    Reply

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  47. A very clear shot. Well done. I don’t have the patience to wait twenty years for the next super moon opportunity, so will have a go at this tomorrow.

    Reply

  49. Wow, that’s beautiful. The moon was amazing in my home town, too. Unfortunately, my camera isn’t as powerful as yours so I had to take a mental photo 🙂 Thank you for sharing.xx

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  51. Amazing. So glad I spotted this! I shall be out tomorrow evening, but lack the lens to get a shot like this. congratulations.

    Reply

  52. Beautiful! I have a D3000 and a similar lens, I’d be tempted to take a similar shot tonight or tomorrow, but I live in the PNW and the chance of clouds is always. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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  54. I’ve always found the moon so “otherworldly” and love to gaze at the full moon…thanks for sharing this info. No wonder it looks so extra lovely! Thanks for sharing…

    Reply

  56. Pingback: Supermoon, Saturday 19 March 2011 « Love Out Loud

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  58. Beautiful! I have a D3000 (the starter kit), with 18-55mm lens, but definitely am going to look into a more powerful lens after seeing these pictures.

    Reply

  61. Like the photos on your blog.
    Flying tomorrow and putting super moon ill0informed catastrophe chatter from my mind.

    Reply

  65. WOWW!!!! SUPERMOON….
    I won’t miss this once in a lifetime event. ThaNKS you for sharing this wonderful insight. I will bring my tripod.

    Reply

  66. Great picture! It is supposed to be overcast here but, if not, I might try to use my telescope.
    Is the moon closer or not? I’ve heard it really IS closer and I’ve heard that was just an optical illusion.
    Rush Limbaugh says it really is closer. What do you think?

    Reply

    • The moon will be at the closest point in its orbit, which happens about once every 28 days. It’s called the supermoon because of the combination of it being at the closest point and also a full moon.

      Reply

  68. it’s a nice picture men, i would want to have that type of camera you use to shoot that one. also, thanks for this information, i appreciate it.

    Reply

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  82. Yea..supermoon. It’s a clear night hear in so. cal. and it looks so beautiful. Please no earthquakes because of this is all I have to say.

    Reply

  84. OK. Now I know all the super crazies will come in to work tomorrow. It’s not enough they come in on a regular full moon….but a super moon? That’s it….I just may actually say what’s on my mind and blame it on the super moon.

    Reply

  87. There’s nothing odd about the full moon in Mar. 2011. It is (very nearly) at perigee, and hence somewhat closer than usual. There is at least one such full moon, near the perigee, every year, though this one is slightly closer than in “off” years. The few hundred km difference between this perigee full moon and the one in 2010 isn’t dramatic.

    Reply

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  92. This is great! My friend told me about this and to get my camera ready. I hope I can get a good shot. At least I’m going to try.

    Nice pic. Thanks for the preview sneek-peek!

    Reply

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  99. Hi, The moon has been beautiful for the last couple of days and quite low on the horizon and as I don’t read the papers now I know the reason why.

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  100. Beautiful. Thank you. This is so much better than the pinhole dot that I captured with my 5-yr old cell phone. It’s cool to know that I got to see a cool supermoon event, too, especially from the Pacific NW. As it declined, the foggy, ice crystal halo was huge and colorful as well.

    Reply

  104. really super!!!!!! what camera did you use? I now have my blog at inkfeeds.com, same as wordpress but without ads and wonderful premium themes!!

    Reply

  105. Pingback: Tonight’s the Super Moon! | Inside-Out

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  114. Excelente ver nuestra amada luna más cerca de lo común; nuestro planeta y el universo son un regalo de Dios, disfrútemelo pero sin contaminación ni basura fuera los contaminadores y destructores de la naturaleza que vivan por siempre los que amamos la naturaleza Divina.

    Reply

  117. great photo!!! well done. we have a fabulous clear sky and the moon is just coming up over the horizon. I am hoping to get a photo but only have a wee Olympus digital so not sure how great it will look. but hey, you have a terrific photo for your collection 🙂
    well done on getting freshly-pressed
    Cindy
    @notjustagranny

    Reply

  122. Wow, great photo! That camera sure is good! 🙂 I knew the moon was going to be close to Earth but knew nothing about the Supermoon. You’re a good photographer!!! 🙂

    Reply

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  126. Very Beautiful. Well done! I’ve got a Nikon D5000 and trying to learn more, that’s how I ended up here. I’ve heard the Supermoon comes every 19th year. I have a lot to learn ’til the next time then haha.

    Reply

  128. I’ve always wondered if anyone on Earth has ever taken a photo of the Apollo landing sites, with an extreme telephoto lens?

    Does anyone know if it’s even possible to do that?

    Reply

    • You couldn’t see any detail of the moon landing sites with a telephoto lens. You would need a very big telescope to see something that small on the moon.

      Reply

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  132. i’m forever trying to get a great shot if the moon, never happens. i mean i’m using a simple digital kodak camera, which i totally love. yet a nikon makes my heart pound rapidly. great pic – great cam.

    Reply

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  136. Call me crazy, but I’ve looked at the moon several times tonight, and it isn’t very different than normal. Was it supposed to be like that for just one second or something? haha! But seriously . . . what am I missing?

    Reply

  138. my roommate just told about the supermoon but I ignored it. It was a mistake for me to ignore this one. 😦 I did regret much for not seeing this supermoon… ;(

    Reply

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  143. Nice timely post for the astronomer in us!!…as I grilled up a fire for loin lamb chops this evening, the big “man-in-the” rose over me left shoulder behind the still naked trees in me back yard…It was reminiscent of the great Hunter’s moon in late October, I thought, viewing it thru whispy horizontal clouds. How do you get Freshly Pressed? Do what you do!

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  146. We saw the supermoon last night without a cloud in the sky walking to our car in a parking lot. Of course, I don’t think I’ve heard of a supermoon and so when I pointed out the full moon to my son, a guy walking into the store let us know that it was a SUPERMOON! So that’s 14% closer, or something to that effect? We appreciated that sight even more~

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  152. I live in so cal, and of all the nights that had to be cloudy, it had to be *that* night. Lame on so many levels. Well, I’m young (relatively speaking). I can wait another 2 decades 😉

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  155. Nice shot!!! I could hear it singing to me all night Friday and Saturday through my window. Comgrats on Freshly Pressed!!! Thansk for sharing…I love technology!

    Reply

  157. This was indeed a beautiful moon. The children and I watched it rise early on in the evening. I was lucky enough to have slept beneath its silvery glow as it shown thru the bay window over my bed. I feel renewed this morning – almost magickal!

    Reply

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    • I think it is possible to get shots like this from a bridge camera – but as with all types of cameras some brands / models are much better than others, even if the features of the camera (resolution, zoom capability, etc.) are the same.

      Reply

  162. Beautiful. The moon is truly magical. I love looking at it on clear nights. Moon baths are truly epic. It makes me remember how amazing our universe is. The moon with its rabbit of craters has surely predicted a good spring.

    Reply

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  169. Magical Moon. I was also looking to try to get to a shot of the moon here in Norway where I live. Tripod and manual settings were required.

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  177. Nice pic. I saw the moon on the 19th but did not take a pic because I thought there was no difference in size. I will have to look closer next time.

    Reply

  179. I was camping when i saw the moon, the sky couldn’t have been clearer! It wasn’t very large when it first rose (It was going very fast), but i got up in at 2:00 and it was huge overhead! Great shot By the way, wish i had that good of a camera!

    Reply

  181. Yes, it was a perigee moon, meaning the moon was closest to the earth (about 50,000 miles closer, actually!) and will not happen again until 2029. Love your picture, my camera didn’t do it justice.

    Reply

  185. Nice.

    I had my dslr on my 1200mm telescope before dark waiting for the “supermoon”. I was unscrewing the mount to add an extension tube and the lens release button diddn’t pop out right when I put the telescope adapter on so my camera fell off and broke. Did you know a dslr can leak oil? Anyway, some kind of clear viscous fluid is leaking out.

    The moon was the best I’ve seen through the telescope, more due to the sky being extra clear than the “supermoon”, and there I was with a 1200mm telescope and a dead camera leaking fluid. But I’m glad someone got some good photos.

    Tau Zero is a good name, very fast.

    Reply

    • Ack! Very sorry to hear about your camera. One of my plans for the summer is to find a second-hand telescope and camera adapter and see what I can do with it.

      Reply

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