If you looked up at the moon on Saturday night and thought it seemed a little bit bigger and brighter, it wasn't your imagination. Saturday's full moon was the first "super moon" this summer, with two more coming in August and September. The scientific term is perigee moon and it occurs when the moon is full as it reaches perigee, the point of its orbit closest to the Earth.
Another bit of large lunar news occurs on July 20, the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, when Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon. The UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is marking the occasion with "Everything Lunar: Celebrating the Past, Exploring the Future" from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, July 20, at 1629 E. University Blvd.
The free event has plenty to offer, including tours of the Electron Microprobe Lab, a story time for kids, a documentary film screening, and exhibits of robotics, meteorites, rockets and Apollo mission hardware. Lectures will be given by Professor Gene Giacomelli on "Creating a Lunar Greenhouse" and Professor Timothy D. Swindle on "Studying the Apollo Lunar Samples." For more information, visit www.lpl.arizona.edu/calendar/july.
