In case you have not already heard the moon will be just a stones throw away tonight, well, a little over 350,000km away as it passes over the northern hemisphere – that’s 30,000km’s closer than usual! This means that tonight’s (Friday 12th December) full moon will be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than any other full moon this year. In addition to this much of Britain may also be treated to a strange phenomenon known as the moon illusion. As the Moon rises in the late afternoon, it will appear even larger as it lies close to the horizon. Psychologists have tried to explain this as a trick of the eye, as the landscape on the horizon appears to make the Moon loom much larger, an effect that disappears as the Moon rises above the horizon, although viewing it through a tube, such as a toilet roll, can make it look large again. 
In true British tradition it will probably be cloudy where we are in South East England so we will probably end up missing this event. Fingers crossed the skies will stay clear otherwise we will need to wait until 14th November 2016 for the next close encounter! For more information about this event and optical illusion, visit the Times Online.
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