Supermoon, 2014 | Photo: Carl, some rights reserved
On November 12 and 13, the Moon will be full and near its perigee, or its closest orbital approach to Planet Earth, a combination that has recently entered public awareness as a supermoon. During a supermoon the full moon appears slightly larger than usual: at its closest approach to Earth, the full moon looks around seven percent wider than average.
Sound anticlimactic? It is, a little. But the term Slightly Larger Than Average Moon probably wouldn't generate as many page views for the astrology sites that came up with the term.
That's right: the Supermoon idea originated among astrologers, not astronomers. As astrologer Richard Nolle originally coined it in 1979, the term Supermoon originally meant either a full or a new moon at its closest approach to Earth. If you asked an astronomer to come up with a term for that set of conditions, she'd probably call it something long the lines of perigee-syzygy. Perigee as we said above, is the Moon's closest approach to Earth; syzygy is when three or more astronomical objects are roughly lined up, which happens during every full or new moon.
Aside from eclipses of either the sun or moon, which happen only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in syzygy, or transits of the sun, when another planet lines up between the Earth and Sun, astronomers generally only get excited about syzygy when they have an opportunity to use it in Scrabble, especially if a triple word score tile is involved. In astrology, contrariwise, a supermoon is apparently a big deal.
But you don't have to care about astrology to appreciate a bigger-than-usual full moon. All you need is a good place to park yourself on the Earth's surface.
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Moderately good vision is a plus, of course, and you can boost whatever vision you have with lenses, ranging from army surplus binoculars to telescopes with price tags as astronomical as the heavenly bodies at which you point them.
We've taken care of the first part for you, with our list of 64 southern California stargazing sites. Use the map to find a site close to you, check out our listing for the site, and see if it might not be a worthwhile place for supermoon viewing.
Once you get there, you may find you have even the most popular stargazing sites all to yourself. A big bright full moon interferes with viewing other heavenly bodies, just by washing out the sky a little. But you might find yourself joining a moon-gazing crowd instead. And as with any pastime, there are mistakes beginners can make that can interfere with your enjoyment, or the enjoyment of others nearby. With stargazing in particular, there are a couple bad practices that can actually cause significant damage to expensive equipment, or even personal injury.
So here are some Best Stargazing Practices for you to keep in mind whether you're heading out to enjoy the Supermoon, or planning a trip two weeks after to explore the dark, moonless skies of Southern California.
Red light is easier on dark-adapted eyes. | Photo: mrsmashy, some rights reserved
Be careful to protect people's night vision.
Human eyes take some time to adjust to darkness: it can be as long as half an hour after exposure to bright light before our irises relax to full light-admitting mode. Stargazers rely on night vision to spot stars, planets, and other astronomical objects. Even when looking at a bright full moon, night vision can allow the observer to pick out fine detail through a telescope that might be lost to someone who just got out of a brightly lit room.
Avid stargazers know that red light interferes less with night vision, and specialty stores and websites sell red flashlight lenses for just this purpose: to allow people to use see where they're going without blinding everyone at the star party.
Don't bring a headlamp to a star party. Just don't.
Even if you don't shell out for a red lens, you can protect your night vision and that of those around you by refraining from using a flashlight, or pointing it directly at the ground if you absolutely need to use it. When approaching a stargazing site in a car, be mindful of where you point your headlights. Especially don't point them in the direction of the telescopes and then leave them on as you rummage through the back seat for your water bottle.
And don't expect to be able to use a headlamp at a star party. You know, the kind that sits on your forehead, blinding everyone who faces you directly? Just don't.
The same goes for other forms of illumination. I was at a star party some years ago where a novice eagerly showed off the star map app on his phone, pushing it into the faces of everyone else there on one occasion or another. His screen was bright, and there was much ill-tempered grumbling at his inadvertent sabotage of people's night vision. Some apps have a red mode to lessen the damage, which is helpful. But that help may be negated by the screens you have to navigate through to get to the app. Consider saving smartphone app use for afterward.
Meanwhile, stargazers in the know who need to use laptops or tablets for stargazing notes on a regular basis will often bring a thick beachtowel or similar cloth shield to keep from inflicting night vision damage on others around them.
Night vision allows you to see things like this. | Photo: NateB, some rights reserved
Leave the laser pointers at home
This is related to the night blindness issue, but with the added possibility of actual permanent vision damage. Some experienced star party leaders will use laser pointers to direct people's attention to a particular part of the night sky. The beam illuminates dust particles along its path, providing a visual aid much more helpful than pointing a finger in total darkness.
But laser pointe
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Supermoon, 2014 | Photo: Carl, some rights reserved 
