FINAL SUPERMOON OF 2022 rose from the horizon Wednesday August 10th at 7:48pm and set Thursday August 11th at 4:47am, in northeast Wisconsin.
(📍 Illinois 📸 Nick L.)
Photographers headed to the streets, taking stunning shots as the bigger, brighter moon lit up the night sky!
What is a Supermoon versus the common Full Moon? It's simply the difference in distance from Earth.
- The Moon orbits Earth in an ellipse, an oval that brings it closer to and farther from Earth as it goes around.
- The farthest point in this ellipse is called the apogee and is about 253,000 miles from Earth on average.
- Its closest point is the perigee, which is an average distance of about 226,000 miles from Earth.
- When a full moon appears at perigee it is slightly brighter and larger than a regular full moon – and that's where we get a "supermoon"!
But this year the timing of this "Sturgeon Supermoon" coincides with the Perseid Meteor Shower peak hitting this weekend.
The brightness of this moon, will add light pollution to the dark sky and reduce the number of meteors our naked eye can see.
Usually, space spectators see 50-60 meteors per hour, but this year it will be reduced to 10-20 meteors per hour.
Not to mention, NBC 26's Meteorologist Brittney Merlot expects clouds to roll in Friday night and expected to not clear completely out, until Sunday.
(📍 Manitowoc 📸 Brett Teüke)
This may inhibit the best show of the shower, for the Great Lakes region. Which is expected to strike after sunset on Friday August 12th and last until dawn on Saturday August 13th.
Good news is, they keep flying nearby until the end of August. So be sure to keep your eyes to the sky!
(📍 Green Bay 📸 Stephanie Uphoff)
How the Meteor Shower works: Earth will encounter the debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle.
If you still want to check out the Perseids, the best way is to head out to a dark area free of clouds and far from city lights.
- The Moon will still wash out the sky, but if you allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness, you should hopefully be able to see at least a few meteors during the shower's peak.
- The peak of the shower will likely occur between midnight and dawn on Saturday, in the eastern sky.
