Did You See The Super Moon?

Do you ever get a funny reaction when you tell people that you live in a town named Moon?

I do. It's usually something along the lines of "Oh, so you're from the Moon?" Or "How is it out there, living on the Moon?"

Never funny. Gets old after a while.

Even out here in Patch land, I'll get the occasional lunar-themed quip from a co-worker ("And Patch even covers news on the Moon ..."). It comes with the territory of living in a town with a quirky name. 

But Saturday night was our night, Moon Township, because it brought us Super Moon 2012. 

A Super Moon occurs when the moon goes into its full phase at the same time it approaches Earth at the shortest-possible point in its orbit—an event known as a perigee. If you're like me—someone who enjoys watching the Discovery Channel—you'll click through this NASA video that will teach you all about Super Moon 2012. 

To sum it up, the Moon was supposed to look super big Saturday night.

It orbited within 221,802 miles of Planet Earth—not exactly close enough to reach out and touch, but the closest it gets to us all year. At 11:34 p.m. Saturday, the moon arrived at the position in its annual orbit where it's nearest to Earth.

A minute later, it lined up between the sun and Earth, making our town's namesake celestial body look "gloriously full," according to that NASA video that I watched twice.

NASA in its report also debunks some common mythology about full moons—namely that they don't trigger and aren't related to such things as higher crime rates, hospital admissions or generally bizarre behavior. As always, if you do spot any lunar-incited happenings around town, kindly send me a . 

So, crack a few Moon Township jokes. A Super Moon comes but once a year. Remember, everyone on Earth can spot the Super Moon, but they can't do it from a town named Moon. 

We get the last laugh on this one—sort of.

This story originally appeared on Moon Patch