How Super is a Super Moon?

By Julie McCay Turner

A friend’s last-minute “Get outside right now to see the Super Moon” email reminder sent Bedford photographer Bob Bass and his camera to the back yard with a tripod and an unusual piece of photo gear. Thanks to an intervalometer — a device that plugs into a camera and controls how often, how long and how many shots are taken, according to www.digital-photography-school.com — Bass captured a time-lapse image that shows the moon rising in the sky over Bedford.

According to Sky and Telescope’s article The Not Very Supermoon, Saturday’s full moon was the second in a string of three [summer] Super Moons in 2014; the first occurred on July 12 and the next will take place on September 9.

Bedford’s Alan MacRobert, a senior editor at Sky and Telescope, said that during his two-mile walk home from Bedford Center on Saturday night he could convince himself that the moon was larger and brighter, “but maybe it was just because I knew it was.” MacRobert had contributed to the Sky and Telescope article.

Thinking of photographing the next Super-ish Moon?

The Photographer’s Ephemeris is helpful in planning outdoor photo shoots, including sunrise and sunsets. According to https://photoephemeris.com/ “It’s a map-centric sun and moon calculator: see how the light will fall on the land, day or night, for any location on earth.” The software is available for desktop computers, iPhones or Android devices.

For ongoing celestial updates, check SkyandTelescope.com for up-to-the-minute astronomy news and current sky maps.