(Soundbite of song "There's A Moon Out Tonight")
THE CAPRIS: (Singing) There's a moon out tonight, oh-oh-oh-ooh...
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Actually, it's a moon out tomorrow - what amateur astronomers call an extreme super moon. The moon will be full, and it will be the closest full moon to the Earth in 18 years.
(Soundbite of song "There's A Moon Out Tonight")
THE CAPRIS: (Singing) There's a moon out tonight, oh-oh-oh-ooh. Let's go strolling through the park...
SIEGEL: And if you do go strolling through the park, you may see a moon that looks bigger and brighter than usual.
(Soundbite of song "Bad Moon Rising")
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: (Singing) I see a bad moon rising...
SIEGEL: At least one police officer, in Pittsburgh, fears bad behavior that a super-sized moon might inspire. And one zoo keeper suggests it could be an unusually social night.
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: (Singing) Don't go around tonight, well, it's bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise...
SIEGEL: NASA's response to all this? Basically, chill out. Real astronomers say that a super full moon does appear 14 percent bigger than normal, but you might not be able to tell the difference in the moon's size. So if you want the full effect, take that stroll at sunset, as the moon rises behind silhouettes of earthly objects.
Copyright © 2011 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.