This weekend - It's a "Super Moon"!

This Sunday, August 10th, as the moon rises at 7:44pm, it will be at its closest point to Earth at the same time that it is full, an event astonomers call a "perigee full moon", or as we laymen refer to it, a Super Moon!  

As measured from the centers of the Earth and moon, the August 10 full moon will lie 221,675 miles away. The moon and Earth won’t make such a close encounter again until the full moon of September 28, 2015, at which time the two will only be 11.8 miles closer together.  According to NASA, this full moon will be 14% closer and 30% brighter than other full moons of 2014.

Sunday's "Super Moon" will rise at 7:44 pm and the sun will set shortly thereafter at 8:00 pm

The only real physical effect of our moon's close proximity to our plant is on the tides, which are slightly stronger when the Moon is closer to the Earth, but that happens every month. 

We’ll have somewhat higher tides starting this evening through early next week because the tides are larger when the Moon is full - its alignment opposite the Sun in the sky means their forces add together, slightly amplifying their combined effects - also called a "spring tide".  

Keep an eye on those days and times of high tides annotated in red below, especially when the tidal height exceeds 6.5 feet as, depending on where you live in the Channel, tidal street flooding is something we all have to be aware of.  Make sure your car and any other property that might be inundated by the salt water tide is kept safe.

Tides for Beach Channel (bridge) starting with August 7, 2014.

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon
           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Th   7     High   5:35 AM     4.9   5:58 AM     Set  2:25 AM      78
     7      Low  11:47 AM     0.3   8:04 PM    Rise  5:18 PM
     7     High   6:09 PM     6.2

F    8      Low  12:38 AM     0.1   5:59 AM     Set  3:28 AM      87
     8     High   6:40 AM     5.3   8:02 PM    Rise  6:11 PM
     8      Low  12:45 PM     0.0
     8     High   7:09 PM     6.5

Sa   9      Low   1:32 AM    -0.3   6:00 AM     Set  4:37 AM      94
     9     High   7:39 AM     5.7   8:01 PM    Rise  7:00 PM
     9      Low   1:42 PM    -0.3
     9     High   8:04 PM     6.9

Su  10      Low   2:24 AM    -0.7   6:01 AM     Set  5:50 AM      98
    10     High   8:33 AM     6.1   8:00 PM    Rise  7:44 PM
    10      Low   2:38 PM    -0.6
    10     High   8:55 PM     7.1

M   11      Low   3:15 AM    -1.0   6:02 AM     Set  7:04 AM      99
    11     High   9:25 AM     6.3   7:58 PM    Rise  8:24 PM
    11      Low   3:32 PM    -0.7
    11     High   9:46 PM     7.1

Tu  12      Low   4:04 AM    -1.1   6:03 AM     Set  8:18 AM      98
    12     High  10:16 AM     6.5   7:57 PM    Rise  9:02 PM
    12      Low   4:25 PM    -0.7
    12     High  10:38 PM     6.9

W   13      Low   4:51 AM    -1.0   6:04 AM     Set  9:30 AM      93
    13     High  11:10 AM     6.5   7:56 PM    Rise  9:38 PM
    13      Low   5:16 PM    -0.6
    13     High  11:31 PM     6.5  

Now, "Super Moon" aside, let me say this:  Go outside and look at the full Moon this weekend! It’s gorgeous. It always is. If you have normal eyesight you can spot light and dark areas—the blue-gray regions are called maria, Latin for “seas”, because it was once fancifully thought that’s what they are. In reality, they are vast areas where gigantic asteroid impacts billions of years ago flooded the surface with dark lava. Reality is, as usual, way cooler than what we imagine.

Through binoculars, you can clearly see the shapes of the maria, and several large craters are visible as well. If you have even a small telescope the Moon comes alive, saturated with craters, the younger ones with tremendous delicate rays of material stretching away from them.

If all this talk about a “Supermoon” gets people outside looking up, that’s fine with me.  After all, a bright, big, full moon shining over Jamaica Bay and our island community of Broad Channel is something we can all appreciate even if killies are nipping at your toes while you're enjoying the view!