Mark your calendars folks, cause 14th November is about to be an astronomical event unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
Not only will the full moon appear to be the biggest and brightest supermoon in recent years, but it will also be the closest Moon to Earth since 26th January 1948. That was 68 years ago. And the supermoon is coming in less than 2 weeks!
So what exactly is a supermoon, you ask? Meteorologists and astronomers have term it “super”, because the Moon will appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the average full moon. But first, let’s take it back to basics…
In the words of meteorologists Terry Eliasen, here are some basic terms to better understand the phenomenon of a supermoon:
- Perigee: The point in the moon’s elliptical orbit when the moon is closest to earth.
- Syzygy: When the sun, moon and earth line up.
- Perigee-syzygy: Essentially a combination of the two. The moon is at perigee to earth (closest in its orbit) and the sun, moon and earth lineup with the moon on the opposite side as the sun.
This is exactly what professional and amateur astrophotographers are looking forward to – a special space date for Earth. Here’s a tip: if you’re planning to view the supermoon on 14th November, you’ll probably get the best view by going somewhere nice and dark, away from the city lights.
Miss the supermoon on that date, and you’ll have to wait until 25th November 2034 for a similar occurrence. Good luck 😉
Sources: CBS Boston, Cnet.
