Week of Jan. 12-18, 2014

It's been called the supermoon — when the full moon appears largest in our sky — and it captures the media's attention like no other.

But what about when the full moon appears smallest? Why doesn't this make the headlines? Why don't we hear news reports about this?

Well, that changes right now. In the often-overblown style we hear on television or read on the Internet, let me offer the following. "If you step outdoors on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 15, and look skyward, you will see a spectacular sight that few have ever seen: the mini-moon!"

Of course, that's nonsense, just as is all the "supermoon" hype. Neither is all that rare, and neither is all that noticeable.

It is true that the moon changes its apparent size in our sky. That's because it doesn't remain at a constant distance from us as it would if it orbited the Earth in a circular path. It travels, instead, along an elliptical path and, therefore, alters its distance — and its apparent size — throughout its monthly cycle.

Fortunately, this change is not huge because, without the moon's relatively constant gravitational pull, the tides would never have made it possible for life to emerge from the seas eons ago.

On the night of Jan. 15, the full moon will lie near apogee, its farthest point from Earth and, on that night, it will be the smallest-appearing full moon of 2014. The exact time of apogee occurs at 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST) on Jan. 15, when the moon will lie 252,610 miles from us.

So will you actually notice that Wednesday's full moon appears smaller than average — a mini-moon? Perhaps, but only if you're one who regularly and carefully views the full moon. Otherwise I suspect it won't be terribly obvious to the average stargazer.

Part of the reason is that our memory of such things is not very reliable; in fact, it'll be only experienced moon watchers who might be able to detect the mere six percent reduction from its average size.

Now, while this is relatively minor difference, we can easily see it by comparing two full moon photographs — one taken at perigee and another at apogee. And you can create such a photo comparison for yourself.

Use a camera with a long telephoto lens (300-400mm will do nicely), and set your camera to manual mode and ISO 200; then try 1/250 second at f/8 to start, but try some other exposures to make sure that something turns out well.

Capture one image on Jan. 15 and, using exactly the same settings, shoot another on Aug. 9, 2014 — the night of the closest full moon of the year. By comparing these two images side-by-side, you'll discover that this month's full moon appears slightly smaller than that of next August — only about 12 percent — probably not enough for beginning sky watchers to notice with the unaided eye, but more than enough for your photos to show a significant difference.

Whether or not you can notice a difference, it should still be fun to get out at dusk on Wednesday to check it out!

Visit Dennis Mammana at www.dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.