Tonight's Full Moon is Largest and Brightest of 2008

If tonight's full moon appears larger and more luminous than usual, it's not because you're loony or due for a new pair of glasses. The moon, you see, orbits Earth in an ellipse with one end closer to Earth than the other; tonight's full moon corresponds closely with the orbit's perigee, the closer end of that ellipse. (The more distant end of the ellipse is known as apogee.) What's more, tonight's perigee will bring the moon and Earth closer together than they have been at full moon since 1993. (Left photo courtesy of NASA).

That means that tonight's moon will appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the usual full moons this year. While the size of the moon can be difficult to gauge in the middle of the night sky, its luminosity should be more readily apparent: the nearby moon should light up the outdoors tonight "like a cosmic floodlamp,".

I have my own shot of tonight's heavenly wonder courtesy of my mobile phone's camera(picture at right). I waited patiently for the moon to appear at its largest and brightest which was said to be at around 7:45 p.m. (Manila time zone), Saturday night, the 13th of December 2008.

A lot of stories, both fact and fiction, have been associated with full moons. The full moon has been linked to crime, suicide, mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates, fertility, and werewolves, among other things. Some people even buy and sell stocks according to phases of the moon, a method proven to be quite successful according to some who practice this one.

Numerous studies have tried to find lunar effects on the many aspects of human life and behavior. So far, the studies have failed to establish much of interest. Lunar effects that have been found have little or nothing to do with human behavior, e.g., the discovery of a slight effect of the moon on global temperature which in turn might have an effect on the growth of plants. Of course, there have been studies here and there that have tried to establish correlations between various phases of the moon and this or that phenomenon, but nothing significant has been replicated sufficiently to warrant claiming a probable causal relationship.

For now, we can only believe those that were proven through scientific investigations. And for the more fascinating stories link to full moons, some of them may be proven in time by science.

Hello and goodnight, full moon.