Supersized Full Moon in Sky
Written by The Night Sky Guy on March 18, 2011 – 4:58 pm -
Now that the famous so-called Supermoon is almost upon us its time to go outside and take a gander at that giant silvery orb in the sky. When you do just keep in mind that our celestial neighbour will be just under 358,000 km from our planet – the cloest in 18 years. That is about 30,000 less than its average distance.
This will make it appear about 20% brighter and 15% bigger than other full Moon months. Not a big deal celestially speaking but still the Moon should look great Saturday night. No worries about seismic activity on Earth- just enjoy. If you get clouded out – try watching Sunday night too – it should still look great just past its full phase.
Sky and Telescope
Best time to watch is just after sunset – looking towards the eastern horizon as the Moon rises. Should be a splendid sight as the full Moon forms cosmic backdrop to more Earthly surroundings. In fact it will probably appear unusually big while near the horizon – a visual illusion/mind playing tricks on you- but nevertheless an impressive sight. BTW also makes for a great photo op.
As a cosmic bonus…. as the moon sails across the overhead southern sky during the course of the night – check out its companion – a creamy coloured star that is planet Saturn. Neat to think that while the Moon is only a few hundred thousand km away, Saturn is a respectable 1.5 billion km distant. The pair will hang out with each other both Saturday and Sunday nights. A great double bill sky show you don’t want to miss. Now let’s just hope we get some clear skies!
For more details on this so-called ‘Supermoon’ check out my National Geographic story and also recommend you watch this NASA video on the topic.
Posted in Solar System, The Moon | 1 Comment »
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By Newport Beach Houses on Mar 22, 2011 | Reply
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