As the moon ascends into the night sky it appears to shrink. Astronomers and scientists tell us this is not so and that its size remains exactly the same as when it first appears on the horizon. Rather, they say, it is the moon’s contrast to surface landmarks, such as trees and buildings, that makes it appear so large while low in the sky. It is an optical illusion.

This past weekend tested our senses even more with the emergence of the Super Moon, the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. This time the difference was real. On Saturday, May 5, the moon was about 221,802 miles from earth—some 15,300 miles closer than average, making the moon appear about 14 per cent bigger than it would if it were at its farthest distance.

Because of cloud cover Saturday, we didn’t see the moon on the Vineyard until the next night, but it was still an impressively rotund version of its normal self. Everywhere on the Island, there were rhapsodic views of the bulbous moon— above the East Chop Lighthouse, Chappaquiddick, the Gay Head Cliffs and the boats bobbing on shimmering Menemsha harbor.

The Vineyard affords us breathtaking backdrops for just about anything. It is in its own right indescribably beautiful.

And that is no illusion.