SUPER MOON RISING!

Full moon rising over my meadow and maples in January of 2012
photo by Jonathan Schechter


"It raises high tides, it makes dogs howl, it wakes you up in the middle of the night with beams of moonlight stealing through the drapes. If a moonbeam wakes you up on the night of May 5th, 2012, you might want to get out of bed and take a look..  This May’s full Moon is a "super Moon,” as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2012."  
So says  NASA Science News.
Great to know those science geeks have a poetic writer's heart that would make H.D. Thoreau proud!.

Armageddon doomsday folks claim that this super moon rising will cause earthquakes and other end of world, run for the hills, scenarios. 
NOT SO!

  Folklore holds that all kinds of wacky things happen under the light of a full Moon. And in my life as a paramedic I have seen weird things happen on full moons--and nights with just a sliver of a moon.
But ever since the Middle Ages there has been a belief that the full moon causes mental disorders . And NASA scientists confirm that  the word "lunacy," meaning "insanity," comes from the Latin word for "Moon."   Perhaps I suffer from full moon lunacy for you can bet I will be outside in my meadow trying to capture the moonshine as she rises above the trees. And I will also talk to the deer.

 It will be perfect evening for me among the dancing moon shadows.
How I wish I could be at Sleeping Bear Dunes to watch the moon rise above the dunes!

 Some coastal dwellers worry about high tides. It's  true that a perigee full Moon creates extra-high tides," but before you head for the hills know that according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "In most places around Planet Earth the lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimeters (an inch or so) higher than usual."  

You won't be needing to build a Noah's style ark for this event.
If I lived by the ocean I would camp on the shore tonight! 

And here is the final word from NASA SCIENCE:

"The scientific term for the phenomenon is "perigee moon." Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee").  Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright.

Such is the case on May 5th at 11:34 pm Eastern Daylight Time when the Moon reaches perigee.  Only one minute later, the Moon will line up with Earth and the sun to become brilliantly full.  The timing is almost perfect." 

My final word: Enjoy all wonders of Nature and her ways and this magical moon.