Supermoon to light up sky

Just hope the sky clears up here in the Tokyo area. Really want to see the moon "close up" ...

The moon will be at its brightest this week because it is coming closer to the Earth along its elliptical orbit than at any time since January 1948

I'm not sure that's quite correct. The moon reaches its closest point once every in every monthly orbit. The supermoon, so called, occurs when that point is close to moment of full moon, making it look a little bit larger and brighter.

The best time to admire the moon is when it's near the horizon, as the brain thinks it's bigger than when it's high in the sky, even though it isn't.

According to some reports i9t also increases the risk of earthquake (due to increased gravitational pull or somesuch). Ki ot sukete.........

What a pity it's precipitating down. I would have loved to watch this once-in-a-lifetime show. Oh well, one more disappointment to add to the long list this month.

The Super Moon? I saw the Moon was smaller than usual in Melbourne.

Chop Chop: The Super Moon? I saw the Moon was smaller than usual in Melbourne.

You have to catch it when it's close to the horizon, due to the 'Moon illusion'.

If you look at it when it's away from the horizon it'll look tiny and you won't see much difference.

Also when the Moon's near the horizon it could make a difference if there is anything near it in your view, to provide scale, or not (according to one of the hypotheses at the wiki link, the 'relative size hypothesis').

It's closer this month to the entire Earth, including Melbourne.

Parking at the local nature park was full, for all the people wanting to see the supermoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion

The Moon illusion is an optical illusion which causes the Moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky. It has been known since ancient times and recorded by various cultures. The explanation of this illusion is still debated. ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermoon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Supermoon_comparison.jpg

(comparison photo with half of average full moon and half of supermoon)