I’ve been extremely excited about for the past couple days (if you follow me on Snapchat or Instagram I’m sure you’ve probably seen), a little gem called the supermoon was hanging out in the sky recently. If you’re a news junkie like me and get religiously updated via morning emails on what’s happening in the world – or you’ve happened across the fun, little Facebook videos that have been popping up, then you probably know what I’m talking about. Otherwise, let me tell you a little about why this full moon has me so stoked.
What is this “supermoon” exactly? It’s not only the brightest and largest full moon of the year, but it’s also the closest since 1948 – not to mention, the next closest one won’t come around until 2034. Given, a good amount of interesting astrological occurrences are consistently reported on (I know I personally have gone out to see quite a few this year). You might ask why this specific moon should be of any importance or significance, when there have been other “phenomenal” or “rare” sightings recently. But, I mean, why not just take advantage of any excuse to go outside and stare at the beauty of nature?
Just like the next person who loves the great outdoors, staring at a night sky full of stars is one of my favorite post-sunset pastimes. However, living in a rather larger city like San Diego makes this a little more challenging, as opposed to being in the middle of a lake, desert, or camping in the woods. So naturally, any chance I get to see a little excitement in the sky I’m going to take.
This past weekend I was in the desert in Adelanto area with my dirt biking club, so I had a prime background for the beginning of the supermoon. After a stunning 360 degree view of the sunrise that morning then some riding around, I was lucky enough to spend my drive home with a full view of the moonrise during and following all of the watercolors of the sunset painted against a mountain skyline. While some people may not recognize the difference between this and a normal full moon, if you take the time to let your eyes adjust to the darkness and take it all in, the fact that it is 30% brighter and 14% bigger than usual becomes more noticeable – as it did for me, illuminating my drive back to San Diego.
I’ll take the opportunity to watch a sunset any day, so of course, the following day I looked into the best location for both a sunset and supermoon front row view. I ended up deciding on Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial in La Jolla, where a massive crowd had gathered to witness both views, huddling up and ignoring the persistence of the chilly wind. The sun set into the ocean in the West, settling behind the American flag, then we all collectively shifted to the other side of the monument steps to watch the moon rising up from behind the mountains in the East, getting brighter and brighter with elevation. There’s no way I can give justice to what a sight it was and my attempts to photograph this have no bearing to illustrate it but here are a few I really enjoyed, so feel free to take a look at a few of the shots I captured:
Breanne Burnell 