Yesterday (6 May) was one of those evenings that sky gazers have been
anticipating for a long time. A rare lunar phenomenon happened. You
may not even notice it yourself if you are simply a casual observer but
last night the moon will appeared larger and brighter than normal. Take a
look at these amazing pictures to get an idea what all the fuss was
about.
Some astrologists refer to this as a supermoon but there are even those
who are calling last nights moon an extreme supermoon because the moon
was also at the fullest part of its sequence. The real name for the
term is rather different – astrological purists refer to it as a lunar
perigree.
As the moon’s orbit around the earth is elliptical the difference
between its furthest and nearest points would, at first glance, be cause
for concern (and if the distance between the two happened overnight it
would most certainly be a time to, well, panic). 254,000 miles is the
furthest the moon is ever away from the earth. At is closest it is
still 220,000 miles away but that means that it is closer to us by
34,000 miles.
While it is true that tidal forces increase by about fifteen percent
during a lunar perigree that does not mean that tides will be higher by
the same percentage. The average perigree tidal rise is around an inch –
nothing much to throw your arms up in horror there, then! In fact the
dire effects that the moon is said to have on the weather during its
perigree are largely a creation of the blogosphere. Here at Kuriositas
we are happy to stand up and be counted when it comes to debunking what
amounts to lunatic lunar conspiracy theory!
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