Sunday night’s full moon is the largest of the year, only because it is the closest. The full moon is also near perigee, that part of its orbit when it is closest.

Tides this weekend will run both higher and lower than normal. That will be the most noticeable aspect of this weekend’s close full moon. Sand bars that are normally covered at low tide may be exposed. At high tide, the wrack line will be driven higher up the beach.

Our tides are a product of the gravitational pull of both the sun and moon. The sun’s pull on our ocean is a constant from one end of the year to the next. We get two high and two low tides, in a span of 24 hours.

But the moon’s pull on the earth’s oceans brings changes which are not a constant. The moon’s position in its orbit around the Earth, together with the sun brings variability.

Mariners be careful this weekend. The bottom may be closer than you think.

Venus and Jupiter

The brightest planet in our sky appears low in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Venus will be joined by Jupiter, the second brightest planet. The two will appear as a close pair on the morning of Monday, August 18. But don’t wait until that morning. The event comes together in the week ahead. Venus will appear pretty much in the same place every morning. Jupiter is the transient planet, slipping closer and closer to Venus each morning. If you can watch the event over a string of mornings, you’ll notice that the movement of Jupiter is significant.