Parthenon Moon

Explanation: Did you see the Full Moon last night? Near the horizon , the lunar orb may have seemed to loom large, swollen in appearance by the famous Moon illusion . But the Full Moon really was a large Full Moon last night, reaching its exact full phase within an hour of lunar perigee , the point in the Moon's elliptical orbit closest to planet Earth. A similar near perigee Full Moon last occurred on December 12, 2008 . The difference in the Moon's apparent size as it moves from perigee to apogee, its farthest point from Earth, is about 14 percent. Of course, a nearly Full Moon will rise again tonight, lighting the skies on the date of the Equinox or equal night . The Full Moon also looms large in this well-planned, telescopic lunar portrait . Captured earlier this year, the rising lunar orb is dramatically matched to the 2,500 year old Parthenon in Athens, Greece .