New Year’s Supermoon Over SF

Thanks to an optical illusion in the sky, the moon will appear bigger and brighter than normal in the San Francisco Bay Area in the night, during what astronomers call a “supermoon.”

The largest “Supermoon” of 2018 takes place the night of New Year’s Day, January 1-2, 2018.  Want the best photos? Moonrise takes place at 5:04pm – which means this will be the best time to see the moon since it will be low in the horizon and looks the biggest when compared to hills and buildings.

The next Supermoon of 2018 takes place January 31st – that’s the final one of the year.

Because the sun is about 50,000 miles closer to the earth than at its furthest point – and it’s a full or new moon – the moon will appear larger and brighter than most full moons. To be considered a supermoon, it has to be within 224,851 miles (361,863 kilometers) of our planet, as measured from the centers of the moon and Earth.

The best time to observe the supermoon is when the moon is near the horizon during either moonrise or moonset, thanks to having objects in the foreground (like buildings or trees) to provide reference points for estimating the moon’s size.

Source: EarthSky