I made plans with my daughter to meet her at 7:30 p.m. early Saturday. Later I took a nap to be awoken by a text. "Where are you?" at 7:39 for the 8:24 moon rise.
Hurriedly I loaded my camera equipment and pulled my clothes on so I could race to the meeting place nearby.
I met her at the pedestrian bridge by Union Station where she had the better camera stuff all ready to go.
We met a few people curious as to why we so aptly stared to the east and kept asking each other what time it was.
Supermoon is why:
If the weather is clear where you are, it should be a sight to see. It happens because -- despite what our senses tell us -- the moon does not orbit us in a perfect circle. It follows a slightly elliptical path every month. At 11:35 p.m. EDT, say astronomers, it will come within 221,802 miles of us -- coincidentally about one minute before it's at its fullest.
The result: When the moon is closest to Earth, it appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than when it's farthest from us. Two weeks from now, on the opposite side of its orbit, it will be about 252,000 miles away.
The first shots we got was of the moon clearing the lowest clouds on the horizon before it was hidden again by another band of clouds.
Because the bridge is a suspension bridge and movement was constant we decided to move to solid ground.
So we went by the river to wait:
A short time later the moon reappeared:
9:45 AM PT: