You know what? Super or not, the full Moon rising into a thin cloud bank is always going to be cool.
I just took this from the end of my driveway, with my camera on a cheap tripod and a few seconds exposure. No tricks, no Photoshopping (except to crop it a bit). You can almost hear the werewolf howling, can’t you?
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.
 | ||
 | Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009. |
 |
DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom
Copyright © 2012, Kalmbach Publishing Co.
Privacy - Terms - Reader Services - Subscribe Today - Advertise - About Us
March 19th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Waiting for a Tim Burton’s character to pop up
Beautiful moon!
March 19th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Gorgeous!!!
March 19th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Great shot! You could use that for your Hallowe’en cards this year. Thanks.
March 19th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Beautiful shot, Phil. And sorry about the noise, I will try to keep the howling down in future. *ahem*
March 19th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
This is a stunning photo! And now I have Warren Zevon stuck in my head.
March 19th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Absolutely beautiful. Your driveway must be a wonderful place to be.
March 19th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
That moon looks dope.
Too bad it’s cloudy in my city tonight, I couldn’t see a thing
March 19th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Where’s the embiggen?
March 19th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
That is a beautiful photo! Thanks for posting it! I’m running outside now.
March 19th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Stay off of the moors!
March 19th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
I am surprised you went outside tonight, Phil. Aren’t you afraid of the extra gravitational pull tonight? The earth might opening and swallowing you up?
March 19th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Nice! I have a few like that..
http://noblesseoblige.org/2009/03/10/even-a-man-who-is-pure-of-heart/
March 19th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Beautiful, awesome shot… I wish I had more trees around where I live.
I love how the moon looks through clouds and trees. Here’s mine… http://www.flickr.com/photos/alopiasmag/5541767200/in/photostream/
March 19th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
The extra gravitational pull might pull you up to the moon!
Beautiful shot. Thanks for posting; my town’s socked in.
March 19th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Reminds me of some Creedence, and some misheard lyrics:
I see the bad moon risin…..
(later on in the song)
…there’s a bathroom on the right.
March 19th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
HAHA I like the werewolf reference. I’m in boulder too and it has been unfortunately cloudy, I just got a telescope and have not been able to use it yet.
March 19th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
No fun here… heavy rains…
Awooooooo!!!!
Is it any wonder we hate to see The sun go down And is it any wonder we hate to see The full moon coming around
March 19th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
It was great here too (most unusual–clouds are normal). Our cloud bank was a bit thicker though.
Lots of people on the ferry were talking about the moon (usually the count is zero).
Two people sitting behind me on the east/west ferry wanted to watch the moon rise. So they went out the west end of the boat. (At that time the moon was still blocked by the clouds.) Dr. Plait, you have more work to do.
March 19th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
This is all we got here in Northern CA: http://twitpic.com/4bb84j
March 20th, 2011 at 12:13 am
I got a few shots tonight. Had to get them after seeing the legendary Bernadette Peters in concert so didn’t get the rising Moon shots, but still found a couple of interesting backgrounds.
http://halfastro.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/super-moon-good-to-see-javelinas/
March 20th, 2011 at 12:21 am
I used to be a wear wolf, but I’m all right Nowwwwwwwwwwwwwww
March 20th, 2011 at 1:17 am
Nice shot. It’s too cloudy at the moment down here in Australia
March 20th, 2011 at 2:38 am
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing
March 20th, 2011 at 2:41 am
Hey! I saw the same thing (thin cloud layer, tree silhouette, supermoon) here in Ohio! (Although I did also have a bright sodium lamp shining in my face . . .)
March 20th, 2011 at 2:55 am
How pretty picture is!! Fantastich
March 20th, 2011 at 3:45 am
Great photo! Do you have a higher resolution? Would make a nice desktop background.
March 20th, 2011 at 5:55 am
not…clickable……ugh
March 20th, 2011 at 6:22 am
I made a comparative shot of yesterday’s “Super full moon” comparing it to an earlier “average” full moon. It can be seen here:
http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-19-2011-super-full-moon.html
Both images were made using the same lens & camera.
March 20th, 2011 at 6:26 am
My cat got stuck in a tree last night and Supermoon did nothing to help.
March 20th, 2011 at 6:53 am
Superwerewolf, Phil. Superwerewolf.
March 20th, 2011 at 7:18 am
A rare clear night and a lovely Moon here last night.
One minor issue, I believe it is perigean, not perigeean, and proxigean, not proxigian.
“The Stategic Role of Perigean Spring Tides (In Nautical History and North American Coastal Flooding, 1635 – 1976),” by Fergus J. Wood. Wood appears to have coined the term proxigee.
Clear skies, Alan
March 20th, 2011 at 8:00 am
[...] Phil Plait has a much more dramatic photo. [...]
March 20th, 2011 at 8:11 am
All I know is that my mane and beard were fuller (and shinier and bouncier!) than they had been in years. Aaaaaaoooooooooooooooooooo! Ao, Ao, Ao, Aaaaaooooooooooooooo!
It was really a special night. Supermoon, Saturday Night and approaching Vernal Equinox combined!
March 20th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Gorgeous photo, and your comment about being to hear the wolf howling reminded me of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Short-Sleeve-Medium/dp/B000NZW3J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300633847&sr=8-1
(don’t bother buying the shirt, it’s your basic three wolves against a moon backdrop crap, but the reviews are awesomeness defined!)
March 20th, 2011 at 9:15 am
Just because you guys have trouble getting razor blades up there in the mountains is no reason to be calling people there ‘werewolves’.
March 20th, 2011 at 10:41 am
It was cloudy here at moonrise but cleared off later and the two doggies didn’t know if it was day or night. So bright on the snow! I didn’t think about it til this morning but I shoulda taken them for a moonlight hike because it was beautiful!
March 20th, 2011 at 10:45 am
I got some nice shots as well…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26877148@N06/sets/72157626308152034/
March 20th, 2011 at 10:58 am
“…that big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon. But we’re gonna let it. You won’t regret it. Kick your shoes off, do not fear. Bring that bottle over here. Cause I’ll be your baby tonight.”
With apologies to Bob Dylan – that’s the song I had in my head all night.
March 20th, 2011 at 11:07 am
This could be great album art for a black metal band.
March 20th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Spooky? No.
Mysterious? Perhaps.
Lovely? Yes.
March 20th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
This is very good. Is Mr.Plait an artist too? It reminds me of the way the visuals have been slightly cropped out at the edges on the current UK series Wonders of the Universe, presented by Prof Brain Cox. You can just imagine Mr Cox suddenly popping his head out in this picture just ready to talk about some wonder of the universe with the start of a music track by Abba blaring out in the background. The Visitors?
March 21st, 2011 at 4:30 am
@ Death Ray (39) -
I think it would suit goth metal more.
March 21st, 2011 at 8:32 am
Wherewolf of London,,,THERE, wolf of London,,,
Great moon shot. Reminds me of when I was a youngling, riding thru an Arab town one night in a bus, mooning the local population. I know they thought we were nuts.
Saw a triple moonbow over Berkeley one night in 1997. The clouds were just right.
Gary 7
March 21st, 2011 at 9:30 am
No werewolves but heard a lot of coyotes and dogs howling and barking at the moon early Sunday morning.
March 21st, 2011 at 10:15 am
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camaro83b/sets/72157626186860739
My buddy took shots of the perigee moon and saturn through my 8″ scope on Saturday.
March 21st, 2011 at 12:18 pm
In some werewolf movies the warewolf could change any time with out the full moon. (see the Howling) I think Phil said something about the idea of volient crime, accidents, and other bad things happening more often during a full moon then at other times in the Bad Astronomy book. this picture of the moon would have been better if it was’nt covered by clouds. In fact this could be mistaken by some for a UFO. By the way Phil are you ever going to write Bad Astronomy 2 ?
March 21st, 2011 at 12:37 pm
“Werewolf?”
“There, wolf. There, castle.”
“Why are you talking like that?”
“I thought you wanted to. Suit yourself…”