In a message dated 99/12/11 10:53:47, [EMAIL PROTECTED] quotes: >Since a full moon on the winter solstice is occurring in conjunction >with a lunar perigee (point in the moon's orbit that is closest to >Earth), the moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee. >This will make it appear brighter. Also, this will be the closest lunar >perigee of the year. > >The Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun, than in the >summer. Thus the sunlight striking the moon is about 7% stronger, >making it still brighter.
Laying a coupla numbers (from the CRC) on it: earth, in kilometers apogee 1.5207E8 perigee 1.4707E8 (1.5207/1.4707)^2 = 1.069 moon, in kilometers apogee 4.0551E5 perigee 3.6330E5 (4.0551/3.6330)^2 = 1.246 total 1.069*1.246 = 1.288 ln 1.288 / ln 2 = .37 stops I don't know if you can see .37 stops difference or not. So it will appear brighter but I think a clear night would be more important to brightness. Of course if there is snow on the ground, then dark objects will have high contrast and contrast is the name of the game in resolution. So with the increased contrast and the reflectance of the snow, the night may appear much brighter. John B PS: 4.0551/3.6330 = 1.116, rather than 1.14
