Tonight’s ’super moon’ in all its glory as satellite edges closest to Earth for 18

Tonight’s ’super moon’ in all its glory as satellite edges closest to Earth for 18

Mangaloretoday News Network

Manrch 19: An exceptional celestial treat is in store for sky gazers as ’supermoon’, the biggest and brightest full moon of the year which will be closest to Earth in 18 years, will be seen in the night sky on Saturday, March 19.

"The ’supermoon’ will be closest to the Earth in 18 years today and will appear to be the biggest and brightest of 2011.

Star gazers will be hoping to see a bigger and brighter moon than normal as it reaches the closest point to the Earth, referred to as a lunar perigee, since 1992.

But experts warn people will need to look very closely to spot the 0.3 per cent difference.

A ’super moon’ refers to a new or full moon that occurs when the moon is 90 per cent or over its closest position to Earth.

It is the first time since January 19, 1992 that the moon has come into such close proximity to the Earth.

The term ’Supermoon’ was first coined by Astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979. It is a situation when the moon is slightly closer to the Earth in its orbit than average, which is 90 per cent or more of its closest orbit, and the moon is a full or new moon.

Today, the moon will be only 3,56,577 kms away from the Earth, the closest while at the full moon phase in 18 years.

Earlier, there were supermoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005.

Regular situations of full moons coinciding with the moon’s closest point to Earth in fact happen after about every one year, one month and 18 days when it is about 3,63,104 km away from the Earth.

"This is because the moon’s orbit is an ellipse with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other. In the language of astronomy, the two extremes are called ’apogee’ (far away) and ’perigee’ (nearby).

At the closest, our natural satellite moon lies roughly 3,56,630 kms from the Earth compared to its average distance of 3,84,800 km from the planet.

 

"The moon will not only shine brighter but will also appear bigger as compared to other full moons during the year. The full moon will be at its best at around 3:30am.

 

“There is no scientific significance to this. It is a non-event for astronomers. It is just that the two events are occurring together. News about earthquakes and other things are all rumors. One can only enjoy it as being bigger and brighter compared to average full-moon days.

“After 29.5 days, we have a full or new moon. Perigee and apogee occur after every 27.3 days when moon is closest and farthest. The day when both happen at the same time is termed as supermoon. This takes a lot of time as after the incident, the gap increases by 2.2 to 4.4 days and so on. They come together again only after 18 years.”