Moon brighter lately?

[jaybird]

I had a friend e-mail me a couple of nights ago commenting on how bright the moon was, and how it literally looked like you could reach out and touch it.  Turns out, there is a scientific explanation.  The moon was in its closest perigee -- the closest it will get to Earth this year (356,592 km).  Late August will be just the opposite, when the moon is in its furthest Apogee.

              Perigee                            Apogee
---------------------------------   ---------------------------------
Jan  1 20:37 358682 km    F+1d 1h   Jan 17  1:41 406433 km -  N+1d18h
Jan 30  9:04 356592 km ++ F+   2h   Feb 13  2:07 406541 km -- N-1d 0h
Feb 27 21:41 357831 km    F-  18h   Mar 12 10:08 406009 km    N-3d10h
Mar 28  4:57 361876 km    F-1d21h   Apr  9  2:46 404997 km    N-5d 9h
Apr 24 21:00 367141 km    F-3d15h   May  6 21:54 404230 km    N-7d 3h
May 20  8:40 369728 km    N+6d 7h   Jun  3 16:52 404264 km    F+6d17h
Jun 15 14:55 365936 km    N+3d 3h   Jul  1 10:13 405035 km    F+4d22h
Jul 13 11:22 361114 km    N+1d15h   Jul 28 23:51 405954 km    F+2d22h
Aug 10 17:57 357857 km    N+  14h   Aug 25  5:52 406389 km +  F+  12h
Sep  8  4:02 357191 km    N-   6h   Sep 21  8:04 406167 km +  F-2d 1h
Oct  6 13:42 359452 km    N-1d 5h   Oct 18 18:19 405432 km    F-4d 7h
Nov  3 17:23 364188 km    N-2d11h   Nov 15 11:48 404633 km    F-6d 5h
Nov 30 19:10 369438 km    N-4d22h   Dec 13  8:36 404407 km    N+7d14h
Dec 25 12:25 368462 km    F+4d 4h  

[PastorLarryT]

Yes I did notice it.  It was indeed impressive.  Thanks for the cool info.