'Supermoon' coming this weekend

[Deano]

The moon will appear larger this weekend than any other time this year.
This month's full moon coincides with its lunar perigee, the closest approach the moon makes to the earth, making the moon appear larger in the sky.
Dr Grant Christie, of Auckland's Stardome Observatory, said the moon should appear about 10 percent larger than normal.
"The moon's orbit is elliptical, so at various times it reaches its closest point to earth and therefore it appears a little bigger in the sky and a little brighter.
Full story here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10802936

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[TokWW]

Thanks Deane - and with clear skies we have been having, it should be quite a sight showing off the beginning of the frosts down here...

[Weather Display]

big tides due this weekend as a result
the last of the run of big tides you get during the autumn months
(spring tides in the nothern hemisphere)
its not very often a big tide coincides with big swells, luckily (otherwise there would be more erosion during big swells)
but there was a good sized swell on the west coast here during a recent king tide....
(storm surges tend to be the bigger problem re king tide <-> big swells)