 |
| How much bigger is a Supermoon? |
The natural cycles of the cosmos brings us many interesting sights in the night sky and our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon, is always one of the best and brightest as it aligns with the Sun for an eclipse, or a planet for a spectacular conjunction. Sunday and Monday November 13 and 14, the Moon reaches its closest point on its orbit around the Earth at nearly the exact same time as it reaches its full phase, creating a
Supermoon. This special situation happens every year or so, but this time the Moon will be a slight bit closer to the Earth, making this the closest Supermoon since 1948. The next Supermoon of this stature will arrive in 2034. So if you have clear skies Sunday or Monday, make a special effort to get out and see this ever-so-large object in the sky, 14% larger than it is when the Moon is at its farthest from the Earth.
The exact moment of the full Moon is Monday morning at 5:52 am pacific time, and the closest approach to the Earth (perigee) at 3:22 am, a bit earlier that night. So if you want to see the biggest and best view that will be early Monday morning November 14th. However, moonrise on both the evening of the 13th and 14th should be incredible so don't feel obligated to see it at the exact moment if you prefer sleeping in a warm bed! Or if you happen to live in Europe you can simply watch the moonrise on the evening of Monday 14th and you'll be all set.
The exact time of moonrise can be found here, depending upon your location.
Here are some good online resources to learn more:
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment