Does the Moon Seem Brighter to You ?

Hey ATS,

Has anybody noticed the moon being brighter than normal over the last few nights.

I drove up my drive way tonight and the reflection off one of my corrugated water tanks was extremely intense. Last night it seemed like it was a full moon out, there was so much light.

I just checked the phase and it's only 61% (Waxing Gibbious) of full

www.calculatorcat.com...

Just thought I'd asked the question to see if anybody has noticed anything different.

* Ned

PS - I live on a rural block with no man-made lighting around me (towns/cities)

I can't say I've noticed this, but I will guarantee you this, luminosity is most certainly tracked and published, I have no doubt you can find this information, but I would be shocked if you found any abberations...probably just perception.

We are getting closer to the full moon called "Harvest Moon" (the full Moon closest to the equinox), the harvest Moon looks always brighter:

The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. It is the first full moon closest to that equinox. About once every four years, it occurs in October in the northern hemisphere. Currently, the latest possible Harvest Moon is on October 11.Often, the Harvest Moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other full moons. The warm color of the Moon shortly after it rises is caused by light from the Moon passing through a greater amount of atmospheric particles than when the moon is overhead. The atmosphere scatters the bluish component of moonlight which is really reflected white light from the sun, but allows the reddish component of the light to travel a straighter path to one's eyes. Hence all celestial bodies look reddish when they are low in the sky.

(from Wiki)

Current moon phase is 61% of a full moon: Moon phases

So, nothing strange

No I dont see anything different, looking at the Moon for the past 2 weeks. Ive been taking very long exposure pics of space lately, AMAZING, ill post some later. If the Moon was brighter, it would be because of the Sun

oh not again ...
I nearly gave into my temptation to reply to this thread .. but decided to rise above it and carry on my way ... Glad i did ...

PS - do a wee search in ATS for 'bright moon' .. and see how many times this has come up ... it seems more reasonable to me, that as oppose to the moon (and sun in the bright sun threads) actually appearing brighter, to a tiny minority of people only, time and time again ... that something else is happening .. more likely, at an individual level of these minority of people, and their own perception ... ish .. and now a readily available medium for these individuals to report their slightly different perception ... ish

I noticed this during last winter when the moon was so bright I could not get to sleep. Even the ceiling corners of my apartment were as bright as daylight. The bible is clear about the sun shining seven times brighter just before the GREAT EARTHQUAKE (when the towers fall) and the moon shining as the light of the sun. We evidently are VERY CLOSE to that time. May God have mercy on us.

reply to post by nimbinned


I live in the country.. miles from a town.. I have noticed it has been very bright for a long while.. It is so bright even that I can not see the detail of it and can not tell where the landmarks are to see if it is sitting off of where it should be.. It hurts my eyes even when I try to look directly at it.

There has been a lot of smoke in the sky this year from forest fires . I would guess that the smoke in the air has been dulling the brightness of the moon in some areas much of the summer. If this smoke disappeared from your area it might look brighter. Smoke travels a long way..

to be fair .. i havent even looked ...

maybe ickes spaceship is awakening .. or falling from orbit ...
Unless th emoon has not changed at all in any way ... and the sun is shining brighter .. which as a result makes the moon brighter ...

ha .. look at me chucking in possibilities for something i dont even believe in

it's not any different. possibly your sky has been hazy for a while and now it's more clear?

brighter moon and brighter sun posts pop up every now and then. i think sometimes the air is "thinner" and therefore the sun or moon might seem a little brighter. IF there is any difference in brightness it think it's got something to do with the atmosphere.

Current solar wind is high, 560 km/s.

That may increase the moons brightness.

umtof.umd.edu...

I was wondering why I didn't need to turn on the back porch light to see when I pee in the backyard........nice find!

Originally posted by pasiphae
it's not any different. possibly your sky has been hazy for a while and now it's more clear?

brighter moon and brighter sun posts pop up every now and then. i think sometimes the air is "thinner" and therefore the sun or moon might seem a little brighter. IF there is any difference in brightness it think it's got something to do with the atmosphere.

I know what you are trying to say, but the thing is that it's been very smoky around here the last few weeks because of random grass fires, controlled burn offs, and people using their fire-places (it's winter) so this can't be the reason

Originally posted by Hundroid
We are getting closer to the full moon called "Harvest Moon" (the full Moon closest to the equinox), the harvest Moon looks always brighter:

The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. It is the first full moon closest to that equinox. About once every four years, it occurs in October in the northern hemisphere. Currently, the latest possible Harvest Moon is on October 11.Often, the Harvest Moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other full moons. The warm color of the Moon shortly after it rises is caused by light from the Moon passing through a greater amount of atmospheric particles than when the moon is overhead. The atmosphere scatters the bluish component of moonlight which is really reflected white light from the sun, but allows the reddish component of the light to travel a straighter path to one's eyes. Hence all celestial bodies look reddish when they are low in the sky.

(from Wiki)

I'm southern hemisphere - so spring is coming.

Does that make any difference ?

* Ned





Current moon phase is 61% of a full moon: Moon phases

So, nothing strange