On Monday 14 November 2016 the Moon passed by Earth at a distance closer than it had done since 1948, making it appear larger in the sky than any other full Moon of the year.
While many know this phenomenon as something called a ‘supermoon’, the correct term is a ‘perigee syzygy Moon’; perigee meaning the closest point the Moon comes to Earth in its elliptical orbit of our planet and syzygy meaning the alignment of three celestial objects, in this case the Sun, Moon and Earth.
Many of you managed to photograph the full Moon and shared your images with us online. Here we present a selection of our favourite 'supermoon' captures.
Supermoon by Rad Djeliov, Northamptonshire. Equipment: Canon 100D DSLR camera, Celestron C80ED refractor
Matthew Mallett, East Terrace Beach, Walton On Naze, Essex. Matthew says: "A view of the supermoon on the eve of its largest diameter on 13 November 2016. Note the breakwater arrow pointing in the direction of the Moon and the bird taking off from the top of the breakwater." Equipment: Nikon D800 DSLR camera, Nikon 70-200mm lens
Anthony Taylor, Surrey. Anothony says: "This was one of my first half decent pictures taken of the Moon. I thought i would try a blue filter just to see if it would make any real difference, and i think it made the lunar oceans stand out." Equipment: Nikon D1000 DSLR camera, Celestron NexStar 4SE computerised telescope
Full Moon, by Sarah and Simon Fisher, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Sarah and Simon say: "Larger than any other full Moon of 2016 and indeed any other full Moon since 26 January 1948! We had our fingers crossed and were thrilled to get this shot of the fifth largest moon in the Solar System and the only place beyond Earth where humans have set foot." Equipment: Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, 75-300mm lens
Richard Matthews, Staffordshire. Richard says: "A lucky shot with a Boeging 737 getting in the way!" Equipment: Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone, Celestron Travel Scope 70.
Justin Miller, Hayling Island, Hampshire. Justin says: “Over the few days before the supermoon peak I spent some time on the beach finding a location from which to capture it. I’d say the Moon did look slightly bigger than normal but when looking through the camera it was hard to tell the difference, so I needed some foreground to give it some scale.” Equipment: Canon EOS 70D DSLR camera, Canon 28-300mm lens
Justin Miller, Hayling Island, Hampshire. Justin says: “Over the few days before the supermoon peak I spent some time on the beach finding a location from which to capture it. I’d say the Moon did look slightly bigger than normal but when looking through the camera it was hard to tell the difference, so I needed some foreground to give it some scale.” Equipment: Canon EOS 70D DSLR camera, Canon 28-300mm lens
Dave Dowdeswell, Dorset. Dave says: "On the 14th the Moon was washed out by cloud, but I managed to take this picture on the 12th. I find that the polarizer helps reduce the glare from the south without affecting the north. This gives good detail across the whole surface, and helps preserve the crater definitions normally lost in a full Moon image." Equipment: Nikon D800 DSLR camera, Sigma 500mm lens, polarizer filter.
Luigi Fiorentino, Bari, Italy. Luigi says: “I managed to capture a shot of the supermoon with a transit of the International Space Station!” Equipment: Canon EOS 650D DSLR camera, Celestron C9.25 XLT
Tom McDermott, Cheshire. Tom says: “I stood outside the front of my house for over an hour waiting for the clouds to clear. Finally got the break I hoped for. Managed to get this picture before clouds rolled in and the fog descended.” Equipment: Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 camera, Celestron C6-N Newtonian.
