The attached picture of the full Moon was taken by Ted Schimenti and me at the Round Hill Observatory in 2006.
Ask any police officer and he will probably tell you that crime rates go up on a full moon. Many studies disagree with this assessment. The researchers find no connection between a Full moon and human behavior.
The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not perfectly circular. The Earth-Moon distance varies by about 8 percent. Sometimes the Moon is closer at full moon and sometimes farther. When the Moon is at its farthest it is said to be at apogee. When it is at its closest it is at perigee. This Saturday night, May 5th, will be the closest, and thus the largest full Moon of 2012.
Not to worry. This happened many times and it will happen again. The perigee full Moon will not cause any danger as you may have read on the internet. In fact most people will not be able to tell the difference from other full Moons. Can you? If it is clear Saturday night go out and check out the biggest full Moon of 2012.
Remember that any full Moon will always be opposite the Sun in the sky. So look for the full Moon in the East after twilight, in the South at midnight, and in the west near dawn.
Starry Nights!
