Timelapse: Super Moon Rising Over the Rocky Mountians

By Nancy Atkinson - July 25, 2013 at 6:42 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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Astrophotographer

Cory Schmitz

braved a brown bear in order to capture some wonderful images of the full Moon rise on July 22, 2013. This composite shows a series of images of the moonrise, and below is a beautiful timelapse.

This perigee Moon, a.k.a "Super Moon" was the

third and final

of the big full Moons for 2013. However, as astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson mentioned on Twitter, it is "Okay to call tonight's Full Moon "super" but only if you would call a 13-inch pizza "super" compared with a 12-inch pizza."

You can catch more of Cory with Fraser on the

Virtual Star Parties

on Sunday nights. Below are a couple of more great scenes from Cory's full Moon experience:

[caption id="attachment_103722" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

A bear sits right on the spot where Cory Schmitz wanted to set up his photography equipment. Image courtesy Cory Schmitz. [/caption]

[caption id="attachment_103723" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

The full-moon illuminated landcape, overlooking Interstate 70, near Vail, Colorado. Credit and copyright: Cory Schmitz. [/caption]

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com