Technology news and Jobs 
Science See the Big, Bright Moon on Friday night
Science See the Big, Bright Moon on Friday night | See the Big, Bright Moon on Friday night |
|
| by William Atkins | |
| Saturday, 13 December 2008 | |
|
Page 3 of 3 This event on Friday night is special because the Moon does not always have a full Moon phase while being at perigee at the same time. These two events can vary. Featured Whitepaper
5 Best Practices for Smartphone Support
Science DiscussionsBritish astronomer Marek Kukula adds, "It's only every few years that a full moon happens to coincide with the part of the Moon's orbit when its closest to the Earth. What people will see is a full moon that's really bright and a bit bigger than what they're used to." [BBC News: “Moon Sails Close to Earth"] Two weeks after the Friday, November 12, 2008 event, the Moon will travel to its apogee point—in fact it will be at its farthest apogee point for the year—which is a distance of 406,601 kilometers (252,650 miles) from the planet Earth. Although the event Friday night should be well worth getting a little chilly outside in the wintery season, Robert Massey cautions about expecting too much. Massey, with the U.K. Royal Astronomical Society, states, “The Moon may be brighter and may appear somewhat larger, but it's really quite hard for the eye to notice the difference; the eye will compensate for the extra brightness, it's not like going from night to day.” [BBC News] According to the MSNBC article “Year's biggest full moon lights up sky,” "The moon is moving away from Earth as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Eventually it'll be torn apart as an expanding sun pushes the moon back toward Earth for a wrenching close encounter." Now, that would be a much more spectacular event to watch in the night sky than a larger, brighter Moon. However, there is not much chance of this happening for a few more billion years. |
Tags
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|
