Greensboro, NC -- The March full moon still managed to be "extreme" despite some clouds that, at times, made it difficult to see.
Saturday night's full moon was the closest to the Earth and the largest full moon of 2011. The explanation of this 'extreme supermoon' is quite simple. The moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse.
The elliptical path of the Moon causes one side of the orbit to be closer to the Earth than the other. In fact, the closest point of the orbit (perigee) is about 31,000 miles closer to Earth than the farthest point of the orbit (apogee). Saturday evening the moon passed by the Earth at a distance of a little more than 221,000 miles.
The perigee of the moon's orbit and a full moon occurred within an hour of each other. That meant the Moon appeared somewhat larger and brighter in the night sky. In fact, the moon appeared 14 percent larger at its perigee than when it is at its apogee.
The last time an Extreme Supermoon occurred was in March of 1993. Extreme Supermoons typically occur about once every eighteen years.
The best time to view this rare event was right after moonrise, which despite some clouds occurred at 7:43 Saturday evening.
All of this being said, there is no need to fear this Extreme Supermoon. Though there have been predictions circulating of Supermoons triggering natural disasters or devastating high tides, this is simply not true. Granted, the record setting earthquake and proceeding tsunami did just occur a little more than a week ago, but there is no scientific evidence to support any link between these two events.
As for rising tides, a perigee Moon does produce perigean tides. Though the name does sound a little ominous, the slightly increased lunar gravity at perigee will pull tides in most places only an inch or two higher than usual. Local geography can, however, increase the effect to around six inches.
In the end, there was no reason to fear the Extreme Supermoon Saturday night. It was a great opportunity to catch something that is somewhat rare and completely harmless.
Saturday night's full moon was the closest to the Earth and the largest full moon of 2011. The explanation of this 'extreme supermoon' is quite simple. The moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse.
The elliptical path of the Moon causes one side of the orbit to be closer to the Earth than the other. In fact, the closest point of the orbit (perigee) is about 31,000 miles closer to Earth than the farthest point of the orbit (apogee). Saturday evening the moon passed by the Earth at a distance of a little more than 221,000 miles.
The perigee of the moon's orbit and a full moon occurred within an hour of each other. That meant the Moon appeared somewhat larger and brighter in the night sky. In fact, the moon appeared 14 percent larger at its perigee than when it is at its apogee.
The last time an Extreme Supermoon occurred was in March of 1993. Extreme Supermoons typically occur about once every eighteen years.
The best time to view this rare event was right after moonrise, which despite some clouds occurred at 7:43 Saturday evening.
All of this being said, there is no need to fear this Extreme Supermoon. Though there have been predictions circulating of Supermoons triggering natural disasters or devastating high tides, this is simply not true. Granted, the record setting earthquake and proceeding tsunami did just occur a little more than a week ago, but there is no scientific evidence to support any link between these two events.
As for rising tides, a perigee Moon does produce perigean tides. Though the name does sound a little ominous, the slightly increased lunar gravity at perigee will pull tides in most places only an inch or two higher than usual. Local geography can, however, increase the effect to around six inches.
In the end, there was no reason to fear the Extreme Supermoon Saturday night. It was a great opportunity to catch something that is somewhat rare and completely harmless.
