I admit it. The moon is always in astronomical proportion. *grin* Because it’s an astronomical object. Get it?! Ha ha…ha. Okay, it’s not that funny.

The supermoon in 2010.

I promised to tell you about this event a few months ago. Come Saturday the moon will be in greater proportion than normal, 12 to 14% larger and up to 30% brighter. Tomorrow, May 5, 2012 at 10:35 CST USA brings us a supermoon (there is at least one every year). A supermoon occurs when the moon is in perigee* — that is the moon is as close as it gets to Earth during its monthly circle (or rather elipse) around us — at the same time the moon is full. A few years ago, we were treated to a rare event of a super harvest moon. I remember the night very well. It looked like the moon was floating above my back yard. It was magnificent.

Father moon will be super big tonight and Sunday night, too. I could go into super (moon) detail about how this works, but I’ll let NASA do that. They created and shared a terrific video on the May 2012 supermoon. Indeed, the only thing that could make this video better is if Neil deGrasse Tyson had narrated it, because he is my future husband.**

Along with the beauty of a supermoon, you may also catch a glance of al naturale fireworks this weekend. The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower will peak this weekend, too. The Eta Aquarid meteors — named because of their apparent location in the constellation Aquarius*** — are giant flakes of dust from Halley’s Comet.**** Ah, but father moon will be too bright to view these descendents clearly. Scientists predict the moon with obscure the meteors with his glare. You might be able to catch some of Eta Aquarid after Máni dims his light, but the peak will be Saturday very late at night and Sunday very early in the morn.

Eta Aquarid meteor as seen from Georgia.

“When no moon is in the sky to spoil the show, you typically see 10 to 20 meteors per hour at mid-northern latitudes and perhaps twice that number in the Southern Hemisphere, for the Eta Aquarid shower. This shower is like most others in that the best time to watch tends to be during the wee hours before dawn.” — Earthsky.org

Be sure to look up the next few nights. It’s sure to be a beautiful sight!

 

 

* “Peri” is Greek in origin and means close or near. “Gee” is derived from Gaea, or Gaia, the Greek goddess of Earth.

** Although he might be my past husband — a husband in a past life I mean. If anyone on the gods’ green Earth is a Time Lord, it’s this badass.

*** My astrological sign!

**** Halley’s Comet is visible to us every 75 to 76 years. The last time we saw it was in 1986, so it will be a long while before she swings by again.

+ Featured image, Supermoon from NASA International Space News.