Biggest Full Moon Of The Year

[Speed]

Some of you may recall that I made a post about this last month. (I got skunked due to weather!) The moon is at perigee, and this month's full moon is going to be practically as large as the one last month. Dawn and I have enjoyed the moonlight while we're sitting in our hot tub, and as a matter of fact, I told Dawn I am going to take some shots by moonlight this weekend.

For those interested in shooting the moon, or if you have a favorite landscape spot you'd like to shoot at night, it's going to be a bright Saturday night.

Here's a link to the details:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...igmoon2009.htm

[susaan]

Thanks for the heads up-

-I can see it,we're 24 hours ahead,over here in Asia-its awesome,but too many clouds at present,fingers crossed for a clear shot before around 2am,when it goes below my local horizen.

[jetrim]

I noticed it was getting close yesterday and I have a spot picked out to try to capture moonrise over the beach. Heading out at lunch today to try some preliminary test shots.

[Ballen Photo]

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately, it's windy as all get out here, and I doubt I'll take my equipment out unless it calms down.
-Bruce

[Speed]

The moon is 98% full tonight, so if the weather is clear tonight, give it a shot!

If the weather is clear where you are tonight and tomorrow night, then use tonight as a practice run.

The weather service is calling for rain tomorrow night for me, so I'm going to give it a try tonight!

[I_Fly]

I'm getting skunked here too because of the weather. But I didn't need any scientific website to tell me it's almost a full moon. It was obvious just talking to the people that called in to where I work!!

Hopefully someone will get some good shots!

[hollis]

I shot this last week, I need bigger toys
my 70-200mm isnt doing much for the moon

[PRB]

Its too stinkin' cold and windy for my arthritis to get any moon shots -- though if I could make a trip to King's Canyon I would in a heartbeat because that is one of the best places in California that I've found to "get the shot" when shooting the moon.

Speed, if you ever come to California, we'll have to go there so I can show you what I'm talking about.

My Best to You,
Penny

[JamesV]

I hope I can get a shot tonight. They are calling for partly cloudy skies, so I hope I will be able to see something.

James

[jetrim]

Moonrise was a bit dicey here clouds rolled in during the late afternoon and the "spot" I had picked out on Thursday has turned into a parking lot for quarantined freighters waiting to get into Port Everglades but I did manage to pull off 1 or 2 OK shots...

[Speed]

Moonrise was a bit dicey here clouds rolled in during the late afternoon and the "spot" I had picked out on Thursday has turned into a parking lot for quarantined freighters waiting to get into Port Everglades but I did manage to pull off 1 or 2 OK shots...

Cool shots! I like them!

[Speed]

I'm getting skunked here too because of the weather. But I didn't need any scientific website to tell me it's almost a full moon. It was obvious just talking to the people that called in to where I work!!

Hopefully someone will get some good shots!

I got some shots buddy. A few, but I got some...
And you are right about the full moon and the lunies coming out of the woodwork!

[Speed]

I shot this last week, I need bigger toys
my 70-200mm isnt doing much for the moon

Two things....

One: A 200mm lens is fine. It really is. I shoot the moon with my 80-200mm or through my Celestron C8 telescope.

Two: That bright "star" you captured in that image is Venus! It looks like you took this one night after their conjunction.

[Speed]

I tried a couple of hot tub shots by moonlight, but the exposures were running on the long side. Rather than keep playing with it, I did an experiment instead.

I set my D300 on my tripod, aimed my 80-200mm at our bluebird house, and proceeded to take a series of shots changing only the ISO.

Shot in Manual, 200mm, f5.6, and all exposures were 30 seconds. The only thing I changed was the ISO. The photo's were shot at ISO 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200.

Remember, these were all shot by moonlight.

[Speed]

Yes, I tried one at ISO 6400 (HI 1.0) as well.

This was shot by moonlight folks!

;-)

[Speed]

Its too stinkin' cold and windy for my arthritis to get any moon shots -- though if I could make a trip to King's Canyon I would in a heartbeat because that is one of the best places in California that I've found to "get the shot" when shooting the moon.

Speed, if you ever come to California, we'll have to go there so I can show you what I'm talking about.

My Best to You,
Penny

Hello Penny,

I understand about the cold! It keep me from shooting the Quantarid meteor shower. And we've had our share of clouds and rain lately. If I ever get out to Califonia, you can bet I will let you know!

[Speed]

EXTRA MOONLIGHT: No, it wasn't your imagination. The full Moon of Jan. 11th really was extra bright. Dr. Elmar Schmidt of the SRH University of Applied Sciences in Heidelberg, Germany, used an absolutely-calibrated photometer to precisely measure the moonlight and found it more than 50% brighter than that of a typical full Moon. This made it possible, for example, to skate the frozen canals of the Netherlands long after dark:

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod200...tro2v4n7jh2e81

"The bright moonlight was perfect for skating," says Jan Koeman of Oosterschenge. "I photographed the skaters using my Nikon D300--no flash required."

Three factors contributed to the Moon's extraordinary brightness:

1. The Moon was at perigee, the side of the Moon's elliptical orbit closest to Earth.

2. The Earth-Moon system was near perihelion, the side of Earth's elliptical orbit closest to the sun. Extra sunlight increased the reflected luminosity of the Moon.

3. The Sun-Earth-Moon trio were almost perfectly aligned. This triggered a strong opposition effect--an intense brightening of the lunar surface caused by the temporary elimination of normal shadows.

Schmidt details the relative contributions of each factor in his full report.