Astronomy - September 2015

10°

CETUS

ANDROMEDA

PEGASUS

AQUARIUS

ARIES PISCES

Fomalhaut

Eclipsed Moon

September 27, 9:47 P.M. CDT

Looking southeast

58 ASTRONOMY • SEPTEMBER 2015

the Puny Moon. That is like comparing a 16-inch pizza to a
14-inch pizza, or the sizes of a quarter and a nickel.
In the second century b.c., the Greek astronomer Hipparchus
noticed this changing Moon size with his naked eye. He con-
structed a device called a diopter, a 6½-foot-long (2 meters) stick
with a sighting circle on the far end. After utilizing the diopter
through several lunar cycles, Hipparchus discovered that the
Moon’s angular size changed as it moved from perigee to apogee
(its farthest point from Earth). Using simple geometry, Hipparchus
compared the two extremes and discovered the proportional shift
from a Super to a Puny Moon.
Nevertheless, celebrating a Super Moon and — even worse —
creating a public event around it produces one of the biggest con-
troversies in today’s astronomy education. On the one hand, this is
a non-event to astronomers, a moment that occurs once every 14
months and is neither dramatic nor scientifically significant.
On the other hand, the media and the
general public eat it up. If astronomers cre-
ate hype over this non-event just to satisfy
the public interest, are they selling out?

An astronomical holiday
The media love the Super Moon. It is a
story they can understand, communicate
well, and display graphically. All media
platforms have broadcast the Super Moon
successfully for the past four years. In
2011, the Cincinnati Observatory fielded so
many calls about the Super Moon that I felt
forced to meet public demand.
Still skeptical then, I begrudgingly
scheduled an open house to view the Super
Moon in 2012. What ultimately sold me
was its timing. It would occur on a
Saturday night in May, and a weekend
night would maximize public attendance
during a month known for ideal local
weather conditions.

To my great surprise, hundreds attended. People gathered on

the observatory’s east-facing lawn and anxiously awaited moonrise

over the verdant hillside.

To our credit, we managed the crowd’s expectations well.

People definitely weren’t expecting a Moon twice as large as nor-

mal; rather they were simply thrilled to be outdoors with fellow

stargazers and neighbors, watching a celestial dance on a beautiful

spring evening. They stopped for longer than a moment to experi-

ence something in the heavens.

And then the Super Moon rose. It seemed hesitant at first, a

delicate, faint glowing orb emerging from the spring haze. “I see it!

I see it!” a first-grader jumped up shouting. “There it is,” a woman

in red whispered, “Oh, it’s so beautiful.”

I’d seen countless moonrises, but never before had I shared one

with so many people. I looked around at the awed glowing faces

basking in the moonlight. Parents held their children’s hands or

lifted them up onto their shoulders, pointing and smiling. Couples

with arms entwined beamed. People kissed. The word “wow”

reverberated through the crowd.

For an astronomer, watching others enjoy astronomy so much

was as good as it gets. Finally, my emotions exploded, and I

screamed out, “Super Moon!” at the top of my lungs. The crowd

echoed with a howl of their own. We shared something with the

universe that night.

The Cincinnati Observatory repeated this celebration June 22,

2013, and August 9, 2014, and twice more the power of the Super

Moon moved me. We had even larger crowds lining the hillsides to

observe together. Some were attending for the first time; others

were loyal Super Moon enthusiasts. This festival of the Moon

seemed to fill everyone with such joy.

Now I’m a Super Moon lover. Why not celebrate once a year

and establish an event around something so beautiful? At first the

Super Moon was an excuse to get people outside and looking up.

Now it’s not only a teachable moment but also a commemoration

of our place in the universe. It should be an astronomical holiday.

Perfect media event

The Super Moon of 2015 will go viral. Not only will the Full Moon

on September 27 be the closest one of the year, but it also will be

This photograph of the

October 8, 2014, total

lunar eclipse encapsu-

lates the peacefulness

of the event. Most

lunar eclipses play out

over hours, rather than

minutes or seconds like

some other astronomi-

cal events. JOHN CHUMACK

The totally eclipsed Super Moon on September 27 lies in southern Pisces
the Fish, below the Great Square of Pegasus. ASTRONOMY: RICHARD TALCOT T AND ROEN KELLY