Tomorrow's 'supermoon',the biggest and brightest in 68 yearsThe so-called 'supermoon,' expected to peak in Israel at 6 P.M. Monday, is expected to provide a breathtaking sight, last seen in January 1948.The biggest and brightest moon in 68 years is expected to appear in the sky on Monday. Beginning in the evening hours, a phenomenon known as a "supermoon" will take place – a situation in which the moon is full and at its closet point to Earth.
The moon is expected to provide a breathtaking sight, which was last seen in January 1948: The full moon of the middle of the Hebrew (lunar) month of Heshvan will look 14 percent larger than the full moon at its furthest point, and 30 percent brighter.
Due to our inability in a difficult environmental situation to discern the change in the size of the moon with the naked eye, it is measured with the help of photographs and measuring instruments. However, the change in brightness is visible even without equipment, and people can therefore enjoy the sight of a particularly bright and prominent full moon.A swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse is seen in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal city of Netanya, early on September 28, 2015. The moon will be at its most impressive at about 6 P.M. Israel time, about an hour after sunset, when it will rise slightly above the horizon and provide a large and illuminated backdrop to mountain ridges, buildings, trees or other objects that loom on the horizon.The supermoon phenomenon in itself is not rare. Because the moon's orbit of the Earth is elliptical, its distance from Earth changes all along its orbit. But the Earth and the moon are of course part of a larger system: The Earth's orbit (and therefore its proximity to the moon's orbit) is influenced by the sun, and therefore the points of proximity of the moon to the Earth are not fixed. Astronomers know how to calculate and predict the close encounters with the moon. The accepted professional term for the supermoon (whose name originates in the world of astrology) is the "perigee moon," named after the closet point to Earth on the moon's orbit.The November supermoon is only one of three supermoon events taking place in 2016, during three consecutive months – the first on October 16, the second on November 14, and the last on December 14. However, Monday's supermoon is the rarest and most interesting of the three. At its height, the moon will reach a distance of only 356,509 kilometers from Earth, as compared to 406,000 kilometers at its furthest point on the orbit. According to NASA experts, the next such close encounter will be seen in November 2034.According to the experts at the U.S. Slooh Community Observatory, which will provide a live broadcast of the supermoon, the early American colonists, and the Indian tribes dubbed the full moon of November a "beaver supermoon." For them its appearance signified the right time to place traps to catch the animal, just before the swamps froze, in order to guarantee warm furs for winter.
The moon's closest point to Earth changes annually, and between 2008 and 2013 the distance was constantly increasing. But since 2013 supermoon events have been taking place closer to Earth, and on November 25, 2034 the distance will be less than 356,500 kilometers - only 356,446 kilometers from Earth.In 2052 it will be even closer – 356,425 kilometers from Earth. And that still won't be the closest encounter. On January 14, 1931 the supermoon was only 356,397 kilometers from Earth. The event is expected to recur, more or less, in January 2057 – when inhabits of Earth will be able to observe a full moon only 356,371 kilometers away.
The moon is expected to provide a breathtaking sight, which was last seen in January 1948: The full moon of the middle of the Hebrew (lunar) month of Heshvan will look 14 percent larger than the full moon at its furthest point, and 30 percent brighter.
Due to our inability in a difficult environmental situation to discern the change in the size of the moon with the naked eye, it is measured with the help of photographs and measuring instruments. However, the change in brightness is visible even without equipment, and people can therefore enjoy the sight of a particularly bright and prominent full moon.A swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse is seen in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal city of Netanya, early on September 28, 2015. The moon will be at its most impressive at about 6 P.M. Israel time, about an hour after sunset, when it will rise slightly above the horizon and provide a large and illuminated backdrop to mountain ridges, buildings, trees or other objects that loom on the horizon.The supermoon phenomenon in itself is not rare. Because the moon's orbit of the Earth is elliptical, its distance from Earth changes all along its orbit. But the Earth and the moon are of course part of a larger system: The Earth's orbit (and therefore its proximity to the moon's orbit) is influenced by the sun, and therefore the points of proximity of the moon to the Earth are not fixed. Astronomers know how to calculate and predict the close encounters with the moon. The accepted professional term for the supermoon (whose name originates in the world of astrology) is the "perigee moon," named after the closet point to Earth on the moon's orbit.The November supermoon is only one of three supermoon events taking place in 2016, during three consecutive months – the first on October 16, the second on November 14, and the last on December 14. However, Monday's supermoon is the rarest and most interesting of the three. At its height, the moon will reach a distance of only 356,509 kilometers from Earth, as compared to 406,000 kilometers at its furthest point on the orbit. According to NASA experts, the next such close encounter will be seen in November 2034.According to the experts at the U.S. Slooh Community Observatory, which will provide a live broadcast of the supermoon, the early American colonists, and the Indian tribes dubbed the full moon of November a "beaver supermoon." For them its appearance signified the right time to place traps to catch the animal, just before the swamps froze, in order to guarantee warm furs for winter.
The moon's closest point to Earth changes annually, and between 2008 and 2013 the distance was constantly increasing. But since 2013 supermoon events have been taking place closer to Earth, and on November 25, 2034 the distance will be less than 356,500 kilometers - only 356,446 kilometers from Earth.In 2052 it will be even closer – 356,425 kilometers from Earth. And that still won't be the closest encounter. On January 14, 1931 the supermoon was only 356,397 kilometers from Earth. The event is expected to recur, more or less, in January 2057 – when inhabits of Earth will be able to observe a full moon only 356,371 kilometers away.
posted from Bloggeroid
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