The moon is special tonight!

[JonathanBelles]

It is the closest it has been in 15 years and therefore is 15-20% bigger, especially at moonrise and moonset. And tonight it is golden here in St. Pete. Quite a sight.

[HURAKAN]

Beautiful also in Miami. Quite chilly outside. I just came from my cousin's baseball practice and the Moon is impossible to miss in the sky.

[HURAKAN]

Friday night special: 30% more moonlight

If the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie Friday night, you might wonder who ordered the extra large.

The full moon that rises Friday evening will be the biggest and brightest in the sky in 15 years, say astronomers.

That is, if you are lucky enough not to have your view blocked by the Canadian weather.

That's because the moon will be closer to the Earth than usual. The moon travels around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, meaning it has moments where it is relatively close (its perigee) and moments when it is farther away (its apogee).

But it's a relatively rare occurrence when the moon reaches its perigee during a full moon, as it will Friday night. It hasn't happened since 1993.

The moon will be about 356,567 kilometres from the Earth on Friday night, about 30,000 km closer than normal.

As a result, the U.S. space agency NASA said it will appear about 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than it normally does. The effect will be particularly pronounced as it rises and sets, due to an optical illusion that makes the moon appear larger as it nears the horizon.

The moon's close proximity will also produce stronger than usual tides.

[Cyclenall]

I saw the moon as it was starting to rise at around 6:00 pm EST. It was very bright and you almost couldn't look at it! I didn't really notice it that much larger but I think it was a bit bigger. It's cool to see the sky always dark blue in the middle of the night because of how bright the moon is.

[JonathanBelles]

I drove over the skyway today. The tide is way out, and the bottom of the bay is visible in many spots. Same thing for Sarasota Bay. Probably caused by the closer moon.