Hype sure has become a staple of the media these days, especially on the Internet. With volumes and volumes of information out there, writers and editors are desperate to grab your attention with sensational headlines, the Butler Eagle being an exception to this, of course!

OK, I’m a little guilty of this with my own headline above, but I’m just trying to make a point because you’ve probably already heard the phrase “super moon” being bandied around about the full moon this weekend.

Now before I’m accused of being a total killjoy, the full moon will be a little bigger in the sky this weekend, not all that much bigger and dramatic than the average full moon, but it will catch your attention!

When the moon is full this weekend, as it is every 29 days, it will definitely be physically closer to the Earth at around 221,000 miles away. That will make it 7 percent larger than an average full moon and about 14 percent brighter. It’s a full moon on steroids!

The reason for the “super moon” is because the moon is in the right place at the right time this weekend.

The truth is, the moon’s orbit around our Earth is not quite a perfect circle. It’s a slightly oval-ish ellipse. Because of that shape, the moon’s distance from us varies more than 30,000 miles as it orbits Earth every month. Its farthest distance can be as far as 252,000 miles. Its closest approach is called perigee and can be as close as a little more than 220,000 miles.

It just so happens that the full moon coming up this weekend will occur when it’s nearly at perigee, making the lunar orb appear slightly larger.

By contrast, about once a year the full moon occurs when the moon is at apogee, so it appears slightly smaller than average. Some call that a “wimpy moon.” The next wimpy moon will be Jan. 15. Trust me, that won’t get any hyped headlines. The media craves big, not small!

Check out the pictures I’ve taken of the full moon. Using the wonders of Photoshop you can see the relative difference in size between a super moon and a wimpy moon.

Make sure to watch the big orange moon when it’s rising in the southeast around sunset this weekend. The full moon always seems much larger when it’s rising than it does when it’s higher in the sky. This weekend that optical illusion will be even more extreme. You’ll love what you see!

Another thing you can’t help but notice is that the full moon or “super moon” this weekend will take a low track across the southern sky. That happens with any full moon around the summer solstice, or first day of astronomical summer, which occurred Friday.

This time of year, the full moon takes pretty much the same low path that the sun does around the winter solstice, the first day of winter.

This makes sense when you think about it because the full moon is always on the opposite end of the sky from the sun, so this time of year as the sun takes its high arc across the summer sky the full moon is a low rider.

Around the winter solstice in late December there’s a flip-flop. The sun takes its low trajectory in the southern sky and the full moon around Christmas is a high archer.

Physically, the full moon always makes the ocean tides a little higher and the closer super moon may add a tiny bit to that. And, if you believe as I do that full moons have an effect on people and lovers, it could be a very interesting weekend.

Enjoy the first full moon of summer and have a super moon great time. Try not to get too crazy though!