Supermoon? or "perigee moon"

Cnn had this to report..

(CNN) -- If the moon looks a little bit bigger and brighter this weekend, there's a reason for that. It is.

Saturday's full moon will be a super "perigee moon" -- the biggest in almost 20 years. This celestial event is far rarer than the famed blue moon, which happens once about every two-and-a-half years.

"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," said Geoff Chester with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington. "I'd say it's worth a look."

Full moons look different because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit. When it's at perigee, the moon is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to Earth than when it's at the farthest point of its orbit, also known as apogee.

"Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the moon's orbit," the NASA website says.

This full moon will rise in the east at sunset and should look especially big at that time because of what's known as the "moon illusion."

"For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects," according to NASA.

Even though it may look close enough to touch, Saturday's full moon will still be at a healthy distance -- some 211,600 miles (356,577 km) away.

As rare as it is, it may be worth a look. Miss it and you'll have to wait until 2029 to see it again.

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Unfortunately 'perigee' doesn't drum up enough hits and sales as the word 'super' does.

But then again it's not really like the media to sensationalise things.

And its going to cause havoc with the weather apparently. I also heard that an earthquake on the same day will hit the west coast California.....we'll see.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

reply to post by darrylss


Perigee: the point in the orbit of an object (as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is nearest to the center of the earth; also : the point nearest a planet or a satellite (as the moon) reached by an object orbiting it

Delete please.

reply to post by RANDOMguess


You do realise that article apart from the headline says the complete opposite to anything happening?
It calls it all 'nonsense'.

At best it says king tides and that's it. Not the weather and not and earthquake.

Also....

The moon's orbit around Earth is not a circle, but an eclipse

The Daily Fail at it's best again

Originally posted by pazcat
reply to post by RANDOMguess

 

You do realise that article apart from the headline says the complete opposite to anything happening?
It calls it all 'nonsense'.

At best it says king tides and that's it. Not the weather and not and earthquake.

Also....

The moon's orbit around Earth is not a circle, but an eclipse

The Daily Fail at it's best again

edit on 18-3-2011 by pazcat because: (no reason given)

Thought people would get it when they read the article.... sarcasm ain't easy over the internet.

Fair enough.

It's just hard to pick up on sarcasm sometimes when half of the site are deadly serious about.

I went out on the back porch this morning around 4:30. The moon was so bright it lit up the yard. I didn't even have to turn the porch light on for the dog to go outside. I just stood there for a few minutes looking. Kinda gave me a peaceful feeling.

Yeah it doesn't help when national newspapers spend the entire week giving scientific facts and examples of when the "supermoon" has caused earthquakes and other such disasters in the past instead of saying "hey, just look outside and see how cool it is then go about your daily lives".

Personally I can't wait to see it but natural disasters? Won't be counting on those happening because of it.

reply to post by darrylss


Got my telescope out last night and was checking the moon out. I can't wait til tomorrow night! Hope I have clear skies where I am at!

Worth noting that as we're close to the equinox, sunset and moonrise will occur at almost the same time. Tomorrow would be a good time to be on a hill-top where you can watch both (assuming the skies are clear!)