Full Moon Rising: Glitzy Photos of a Supermoon

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Over Parliament

The supermoon rises above the Canadian Parliament on the night of May 5, 2012. — (Image credit: Michel Loiselle | Shutterstock)

A Capitol View?

The supermoon (the full moon that is closest to Earth each year) sneaks behind the U.S. Capitol's rotunda dome on Cinco de Mayo.

Seattle's Supermoon Rising

&lt;br&gt;Earth saw its biggest full moon of the year this Saturday (May 5); and plenty of people across the globe were out to catch a glimpse of the brilliant satellite. Dubbed a supermoon by some, the phenomenon occurs when the moon is closest to Earth on its — (Image credit: Dave Morrow)

Earth saw its biggest full moon of the year this Saturday (May 5); and plenty of people across the globe were out to catch a glimpse of the brilliant satellite. Dubbed a supermoon by some, the phenomenon occurs when the moon is closest to Earth on its noncircular orbit. This close approach, called perigee, puts the moon at 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) away. The setup many saw over the weekend put the moon at some 14 percent larger than normal and 16 percent brighter than an average full moon.

Shown here, Dave Morrow created this composite image with six time-lapse exposures of the full moon rising over Seattle, Wash., in addition to exposures of the skyline blended together using Adobe Bridge. "I was sitting in the living room last night processing pics from the weekend, when I noticed a huge moon rising over Seattle. Grabbed my camera and ran up to Kerry Park to get this picture," Morrow wrote on his flickr page.

Glowing Red

Supermoon as seen from the Philippines.

Maine Moon

The supermoon seen from Old Orchard Beach, Maine. — (Image credit: Jeff Chadburn)

A full moon will appear bigger and brighter than normal on either side of the actual full-moon date. Here, "a day late," the supermoon seen from Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

Moon Mirro

An amazing reflection of May 5's supermoon in the water below.

Desert Moon

This supermoon photo was taken on May 5, 2012, from Pima County, Sonoita, Ariz.

Over Spokane

View of the May 5 full moon over Spokane, Wash.

Squashed Supermoon

The Supermoon appears to be sinking into the atmosphere. The image was taken by Andr&eacute; Kuipers from aboard the ISS on May 5, 2012. — (Image credit: ESA/NASA)

The Supermoon appears to be sinking into the atmosphere. The image was taken by André Kuipers from aboard the ISS on May 5, 2012.

Moon Beams

Flattened moonbeams appear to look like liquid in this image of the supermoon, which was taken by André Kuipers from aboard the ISS on May 5, 2012.

Beautiful Blues

The blue colors of Earth's atmosphere are a beautiful contrast with the supermoon, in this image taken by Andr&eacute; Kuipers from aboard the ISS on May 5, 2012. — (Image credit: ESA/NASA)

The blue colors of Earth's atmosphere are a beautiful contrast with the supermoon, in this image taken by André Kuipers from aboard the ISS on May 5, 2012.

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