This is a post I published in December 2008. For more information about the 2009 Biggest Full Moon click here.

Friday's Full Moon is the biggest and brightest of 2008. Full Moon dawns at 16:39 UT (22:09 Local Time) on 12 December 2008. The Moon is at Perigee at 356567 km on 13 December 2008 at 21:38 UT (03:08 Local Time).

So if you are waiting to take a photograph of the biggest and brightest moon - wait till 3:08 a.m. on Saturday 13 December 2008. There is however an optical illusion. The Moon appears to be bigger when it's close to the horizon. So try to view it when the Moon is rising or setting. There is one Perigee Full Moon in January 2009, but that is 16 hours away from the Full Moon and it won't be as big as the one this Friday/Saturday.

I have posted some information about the Lunar Cycle, Apogee, Perigee, New Moon and Full Moon schedule of 2008 and 2009. Enjoy the Big Full Moon!

Lunar Cycle

Source: NASA - Lunar Prospector

Image Source: Wikipedia

The revolution of the Moon around the Earth causes the Moon to appear to change shape in the sky. These different shapes are called "phases" of the moon. The Moon passes through a cycle of eight phases every 29.5 days. There is no definite starting point for the cycle, but phases follow one behind the other in a strict order.

1. Waxing Crescent
   
   The visible moon is partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing.
2. First Quarter
   
   One-half of the moon appears illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing.
3. Waxing Gibbous
   
   The Moon is less than fully illuminated but greater than half illuminatedby direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing.
4. Full Moon
   
   The visible moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight.
5. Waning Gibbous
   
   The Moon is less than fully illuminated but greater than half illuminatedby direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing.
6. Last Quarter
   
   One-half of the moon appears illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing.
7. Waning Crescent
   
   The visible moon is partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing.
8. New Moon
   
   The visible moon is not fully illuminated by direct sunlight.

Apogee and Perigee

According to Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion, the Moon's orbital path around Earth is an ellipse with Earth as one of the foci. This implies that there should be a point where the Moon is closest and where the Moon is furthest from Earth. The closest point is called Perigee and the furthest is called Apogee.

Apogee, Perigee, New Moon and Full Moon Days of 2008

Source: John Walker - Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator

              Perigee                            Apogee
---------------------------------   ---------------------------------
                                    Jan  3  8:07 405327 km    N-5d 3h
Jan 19  8:40 366435 km    F-3d 4h   Jan 31  4:27 404531 km    N-6d23h
Feb 14  1:09 370215 km    N+6d21h   Feb 28  1:28 404441 km    F+6d21h
Mar 10 21:40 366301 km    N+3d 4h   Mar 26 20:14 405093 km    F+5d 1h
Apr  7 19:30 361082 km    N+1d15h   Apr 23  9:35 405944 km    F+2d23h
May  6  3:23 357771 km    N+  15h   May 20 14:29 406402 km +  F+  12h
Jun  3 13:09 357250 km    N-   6h   Jun 16 17:34 406228 km +  F-1d23h
Jul  1 21:23 359512 km    N-1d 4h   Jul 14  4:15 405451 km    F-4d 3h
Jul 29 23:25 363886 km    N-2d10h   Aug 10 20:19 404556 km    F-6d 0h
Aug 26  3:45 368692 km    N-4d16h   Sep  7 14:59 404209 km    F-7d18h
Sep 20  3:18 368888 km    F+4d18h   Oct  5 10:35 404715 km    N+6d 2h
Oct 17  6:07 363826 km    F+2d10h   Nov  2  4:56 405722 km    N+4d 5h
Nov 14 10:00 358972 km    F+1d 3h   Nov 29 16:56 406479 km -  N+2d 0h
Dec 12 21:38 356567 km ++ F+   4h   Dec 26 17:51 406600 km -- N-  18h

        New Moon                Full Moon
----------------------   ----------------------
   2008 Jan  8 11:38        2008 Jan 22 13:35
   2008 Feb  7  3:45        2008 Feb 21  3:31
   2008 Mar  7 17:15        2008 Mar 21 18:40
   2008 Apr  6  3:56        2008 Apr 20 10:26
   2008 May  5 12:19        2008 May 20  2:12
   2008 Jun  3 19:24        2008 Jun 18 17:31
   2008 Jul  3  2:20        2008 Jul 18  8:00
   2008 Aug  1 10:14        2008 Aug 16 21:18
   2008 Aug 30 19:59        2008 Sep 15  9:15
   2008 Sep 29  8:13        2008 Oct 14 20:04
   2008 Oct 28 23:15        2008 Nov 13  6:19
   2008 Nov 27 16:56        2008 Dec 12 16:39
   2008 Dec 27 12:24        

Apogee, Perigee, New Moon and Full Moon Days of 2009

Source: John Walker - Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator

              Perigee                            Apogee
---------------------------------   ---------------------------------
Jan 10 10:53 357500 km +  F-  16h   Jan 23  0:12 406115 km -  N-3d 7h
Feb  7 20:09 361486 km    F-1d18h   Feb 19 17:01 405131 km    N-5d 8h
Mar  7 15:08 367019 km    F-3d11h   Mar 19 13:17 404301 km    N-7d 2h
Apr  2  2:32 370013 km    N+6d10h   Apr 16  9:17 404231 km    F+6d18h
Apr 28  6:28 366041 km    N+3d 3h   May 14  2:58 404914 km    F+4d22h
May 26  3:45 361154 km    N+1d15h   Jun 10 16:05 405785 km +  F+2d21h
Jun 23 10:40 358017 km    N+  15h   Jul  7 21:40 406232 km ++ F+  12h
Jul 21 20:17 357464 km -- N-   6h   Aug  4  0:43 406026 km +  F-2d 0h
Aug 19  4:54 359641 km    N-1d 5h   Aug 31 11:05 405267 km    F-4d 4h
Sep 16  7:57 364053 km    N-2d10h   Sep 28  3:34 404431 km    F-6d 2h
Oct 13 12:29 369067 km    N-4d17h   Oct 25 23:19 404166 km    N+7d17h
Nov  7  7:31 368899 km    F+4d12h   Nov 22 20:08 404734 km    N+6d 0h
Dec  4 14:13 363478 km    F+2d 6h   Dec 20 14:55 405730 km    N+4d 2h

        New Moon                Full Moon
----------------------   ----------------------
                            2009 Jan 11  3:28
   2009 Jan 26  7:56        2009 Feb  9 14:50
   2009 Feb 25  1:37        2009 Mar 11  2:38
   2009 Mar 26 16:08        2009 Apr  9 14:56
   2009 Apr 25  3:24        2009 May  9  4:02
   2009 May 24 12:12        2009 Jun  7 18:12
   2009 Jun 22 19:36        2009 Jul  7  9:22
   2009 Jul 22  2:35        2009 Aug  6  0:56
   2009 Aug 20 10:02        2009 Sep  4 16:04
   2009 Sep 18 18:45        2009 Oct  4  6:12
   2009 Oct 18  5:33        2009 Nov  2 19:15
   2009 Nov 16 19:14        2009 Dec  2  7:32
   2009 Dec 16 12:03        2009 Dec 31 19:14    

Related Links

1. NASA - Biggest Full Moon of the Year
2. NASA - Predictions of Moon Phases from 2001-2025
3. NASA - Lunar Prospector
4. NASA - Moon Illusions
5. John Walker - Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator