Supermoon of 19 March 2011

Since childhood I’ve worshiped Artemis/Diana, goddess of the moon, the hunt, and protector of women. (See my statue of her here and here; my portrait of her here). How I wish that my camera had the proper lens for nighttime photography. But here are some incredible shots by others:

The moon rises above Manchester’s Trafford shopping centre as clear skies reveal what has been called a “super moon”, a natural phenomenon as the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth for about two decades, in Manchester, England, Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

In this photo provided by NASA, the full moon is seen as it rises near the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, March 19, 2011, in Washington. The full moon tonight is called a “Super Perigee Moon” since it is at it’s closest to Earth in 2011. The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)

The moon sets behind clouds and a farm house near Rose Hill, Kan., Sunday, March 20, 2011. The perigean moon is at its closest point to Earth since March 1993. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2011 picture, the moon rises above the Jackson Building tower in downtown Asheville, N.C. as the building is bathed in orange light from the setting sun. There’s a full moon Saturday, March 19, 2011 but it won’t be just any old full moon. It’ll be bigger and brighter. It will appear larger than normal as it makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 20 years. Scientists estimate the “supermoon” rising in the East at sunset will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter at its peak. It will be more than 221,000 miles away _ the closest to Earth since March 1993. (AP Photo/The Asheville Citizen-Times, Bill Sanders)

(images via kstar.com)