The full “supermoon” peers out from behind the US Capitol building in Washington DC; taken by @quinalty.
People around the world flocked to catch a glimpse of the spectacular “supermoon” that lit up the night sky on Saturday. At roughly 11.34 pm EDT on 5 May, 2012 the moon passed its perigree – the closest point to earth – making it appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than normal.
At its peak, the moon was approximately 221,802 miles from the earth, which was 248 miles further away than the last supermoon event that took place on 19 March, 2011, according to Discovery. On average, the moon orbits 230,000 miles from earth. Here are seven indelible images of the 2012 supermoon taken from international vantage points by Shutterstock contributors.
The full moon hovers above the Canadian Parliament building on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. This striking image was taken by Shutterstock contributor Michel Loiselle.
Although there are no landmarks to put it into perspective, this supermoon image taken in the Philippines by @aotinio is still positively enigmatic. We love the orange hue.
Also taken in Canada, the super bright full moon rises over Lake Ontario. This image was captured by @MAGpi60 from Frenchman’s Bay in Pickering, Ontario.
Another lonely moon photograph, this time snapped up by @hzhwang in Taiwan. What kind of telephoto lens was this lucky photographer using?
This is a classic full moon image with wispy clouds passing in front. Many skygazers complained that cloud cover on Cinco de Mayo busted their supermoon viewing experience, but @lafsatfriday got lucky in Spokane, Washington.
Going out with a closeup bang, Jer Buck from Vancouver, B.C took this image, which was submitted to Shutterstock by @saramushanksy. For more lunar gazing, look out for the lunar eclipse on 20 May, 2012. It will be less dramatic to readers living in the Middle East but there’s a chance you’ll at least be able to see the bring ring around the sun known as an annulus.
And for more really amazing images that capture the 2012 supermoon’s glory, check out this fantastic slideshow on Space.com.
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
