Is it just me, or is the moon very bright?

Is it just or has the moon been extra bright the last few days? It's almost like a second sun in the night sky.

Might just be unusually clear skies. But last night I did think the same thing; The full moon made it bright enough to where we could have turned out the street lights last night. Not sure why it is; But I noticed as well here in South East USA.

Yes the moon is bright, but I didnt think anything unusual about it, just a full moon on a clear sky.

Kind of off topic and I appologize but my 6 year old daughter asked me last night why there was two moons in the sky. I looked and there was one, anyone notice two?

I understand that the Moon was recently repolished, and the diamonds on the surface have been cleaned to make it extra shiny. Also, given the fact that the Moon has actually been moved closer to the Earth 50,000 miles might account for it looking particularly big and bright lately.

reply to post by samureyed


As an off-topic answer to you off-topic question, I think it's best to have her eyes checked by a doctor. Seeing two Moons, one slightly to one side of the other and a little rotated, was the only indication I had that I needed glasses.

The doctor said that it was impossible for me to see what I said I saw, but the truth is that the prescribed glasses made me see the Moon as I was used to see.

But if this is the same problem don't worry, I use the same glasses after more than 20 years, and I see better than anyone else in my family.

On topic, maybe the sky is clearer than usual and that combined with a full Moon makes a great view. I don't see it today because the sky is full of clouds, but yesterday it was clear and bright, but nothing unusual.

Yes I've noticed the moon is brighter. I assume it is at a different angle now then it was last fall. Ever since the eclipse it has seemed very bright...

No way to measure luminosity without an instrument though.

Originally posted by samureyed
Yes the moon is bright, but I didnt think anything unusual about it, just a full moon on a clear sky.

Yeah ofcourse, but it's VERY bright. That's unsual to me...

It's so bright that it lights up my garden, it's stronger than the street lamps that are close to it.

Yes i have also noticed this, Im in London and this past week my garden at night has beeen lit up blue, the moon is really giving off alot of light,

but it does seem to be in a different position that it was before,

This is mainly caused by the sun reflecting off the moon which causes this extra brightness,

Ill have to look it up though

Always good to keep this link handy,
www.spaceweather.com...

Are you really in Sweden? That would definitely explain some of it.

Certain cross-sections of the atmosphere will dillute light that passes through it. Kind of like you can see heat waves coming off the road if it's far away. Well at a certain distance or height up, you don't see so much of the heatwaves, you see over it. At our location, the atmosphere between our angle and the setting of the moon is thick. Where you are, perhaps the angle you view the moon at allows far more light to come through. Less atmosphere distortion because of a better viewing angle?

This is all rationalist explanation. In my opinion the sun and the moon and every object in the solar system is brightening up and raising it's vibration. But I don't expect that to be the popular opinion

Bright yes, abnormal I don't think so. Perhaps we have succeeded in bringing down pollution levels thanks to Al Gore's plan.

Or Nibiru is actually on the way in which case we're pretty much beat.

I prefer the latter, because I believe Al to be an overtly large huxter, and would hate to be disappointed by being proved wrong.

Hope that helps!

reply to post by NewWorldOver


That doesn't make much sense NewWorldOver...

It should be brighter the further South you are, since it gets higher in the sky as you get closer to the Equator, and therefore there is less atmosphere for the light to pass through which means it is not scattered as much.

However, as said before, very clear sky can play a part too, so when it's crisp/cold and there is little moisture in the air, more light will get through. This is more lightly to be the case the further North you are.

samureyed - ask your daughter if she saw the second moon move. Perhaps she saw a bright satellite flare or even a meteor!

Nohup - a star for you since your post made me chuckle!

reply to post by ZikhaN


Wow. I thought it was just me. I stepped out last night for a smoke, and was really awestruck by the intensity of the Moon. I had never seen anything like it, but I wrote it off as atmospheric. It seemed artificial in its brightness. There were some fast moving billowy clouds that gave it a hyper 3D appearance. But even as the clouds cleared, the air itself was still bright enough to block out the stars. And it was cold, so there couldn't have been too much moisture in the air. I actually wanted to take a picture of it, but knew that what I was seeing couldn't really be captured on film. Just one of those things that you have to catch while it's there.

Gorgeous orange glow to it tonight where I am, with a wide ray off the top and bottom of it, throw in a few clouds rolling across and it is about as beautiful as can be. But last night, it was bright...I couldn't sleep. Although we've seen nothing but clouds for awhile, so a welcome sight.

Just one little note about your daughter. You know how you stare at something bright for very long, then look away, but you still kind of see it? Maybe she was just staring at the bright moon for so long, looked away, then looked back and saw 'two' moons. Happens when I stare at it through the telescope at bright objects...always best to get it checked out though. Sorry for the long-winded, poorly worded post.

I am going to Confirm this INsanly Bright Moon, here in Southern California...

A couple nights ago, in the VERY early moarning... i left my friends house, and both him and i were Awestruck by how bright the moon was.


It was strange, it was SO bright

The Brighteest i can remember...


Mabye the sun is ejecting out some strange light???

or mabye... i don't know...


But im glad im not the only one to notice how bright the moon was... i didn't even need my headlights to drive at night....

I wonder if it has anything to do with that supernova that happened. There was a thread on it. A star exploded 6 billion light years ago, forming a black hole, and we just saw it the other day when the light finally got to us. Here's the real kicker, it was bright enough to see with the naked eye for 50 seconds. Ready for another kick? Much closer and the radiation might have killed half the life on Earth.

Originally posted by TKainZero
Mabye the sun is ejecting out some strange light???

Sun is getting brighter As I said earlier I am of the opinion that every object in the solar system is getting brighter while the sun raises its vibration.

As an off-topic answer to you off-topic question, I think it's best to have her eyes checked by a doctor. Seeing two Moons, one slightly to one side of the other and a little rotated, was the only indication I had that I needed glasses.

Just one little note about your daughter. You know how you stare at something bright for very long, then look away, but you still kind of see it? Maybe she was just staring at the bright moon for so long, looked away, then looked back and saw 'two' moons. Happens when I stare at it through the telescope at bright objects...always best to get it checked out though.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Im assuming it was from looking through our double paned glass windows though. When you look at the moon there is a reflection or displacement of the light that actually creates another moon a few inches away. However, it is only a fraction of the brightness and transparent. Then again maybe she saw a moon shaped ufo only kidding.

Originally posted by NewWorldOver
As I said earlier I am of the opinion that every object in the solar system is getting brighter while the sun raises its vibration.

What kind of vibration is getting raised?

[edit on 21-3-2008 by Johnmike]

Whoa this is weird, I have been thinking the same thing for the last 2 months, but it looks bigger to me more that bright, like it's closer to Earth or something. And I look at the moon ALOT, and something is definately different.

I don't think that the Sun is getting brighter or that this has something to do with supernovas or anything else because from where I am looking at the Moon, Portugal, it is not brighter than usual, making it very unlikely that this is a global event that is affecting the Sun or the Moon but probably just localised conditions making it appear brighter than usual.