The Mid-Autumn Festival will be extra special in Hong Kong this year as a “super moon”, which will appear seven percent bigger than a normal moon, will be hanging in the sky over our city.
Although the full moon will actually come out on Monday, the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, an extra bright and extra big moon will be visible on the evening of the main celebrations on Sunday.
The “super moon” appears extra super-duper awesome as it nears the perigee (the closest point to Earth), leaving it practically at spitting distance, just 357,000 kilometres away.
Observed with the naked eye, the moon will seem seven percent larger than when viewed from its average distance from Earth and 14 percent larger than when at its farthest distance.
This year, the moon will appear at its biggest since 1998 – weather permitting, of course.
The times of moonrise, transit (when the moon is at its highest elevation) and moonset during the Mid-Autumn Festival period are given below:
Saturday, Sept. 26 (eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival)
Moonrise: 4:52pm
Transit: 10:54pm
Moonset: 5am (next morning)
Sunday, Sept. 27 (Mid-Autumn Festival)
Moonrise: 5:40pm
Transit: 11:50pm
Moonset: 6.04am (next morning)
Monday, Sept. 28 (day after the Mid-Autumn Festival)
Moonrise: 6.28pm
Transit: 12:46am (next morning)
Moonset : 7:09am (next morning)
Happy space gazing!
