Saturday will have a "Super Moon," but according to one local astronomer, the event will be super in name only.
The Super Moon is the brightest full moon of the year, and it's scheduled to light up the sky on Saturday. But Morris Jones of Monrovia's Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers says that the only way to appreciate the Super Moon is measuring it with special equipment.
"The only way you can tell it really is by using instruments that would measure it," Jones said. "It's not something that's visually detectable."
Jones put it frankly.
"Astronomers don't consider this a signifcant event," he said.
However, Jones is excited for a real astronomical event scheduled to take place later this month. A lunar eclipse will happen on May 20, and Jones said it will be viewable right here in Monrovia.
"The bigger event is in a couple weeks is when we have our solar eclipse, that's going to be a big one," Jones said. "For me it's kind of special because it's nearby, its local."
Southern Californians will be treated to seeing a partial eclipse, so Jones and his wife, JPL astronomer Jane Houston Jones, plan to drive to a spot north of Reno to fully appreciate the event.
The moon will be the furthest away from its orbit and will create quite an image when it centers itself in the middle of the sun, Jones said.
"When it reaches the center of the sun you get a ring of bright sun around the moon," he said.
