Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Skywatchers flocked to Glastonbury Tor in England to take in the sight of a September 2015 supermoon. A supermoon that's due to hang over us on Nov. 14 will be even more impressive with NASA predicting it could be as much as 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than a typical full moon.
Canadians accustomed to keeping their eyes trained up at the changing colours of fall may do well to look a little higher on Nov. 14.
That’s the day we’re due a visit from a supermoon, and this one is going to be a doozy.
According to NASA, that moon will be significantly larger and brighter as it makes its closest approach to Earth since 1948.
Related Article
- NASA images reveal constant motion of sun's surface
- Rover video provides a 360-degree view of Mars
- With a dramatic crash, asteroid-chasing probe ends its mission
“The full moon of Nov. 14 is not only the closest full moon of 2016, but also the closest full moon of to date in the 21st century,” the agency said.
The moon’s elliptical orbit is what allows for these occasional events of celestial enormity. One side of the orbit, known as the perigee, is about 48,000 kilometres closer to Earth than its opposite, the apogee.
When the moon lines up with the sun and Earth as it travels that orbit, it’s known as a syzygy. A syzygy on the perigee side of the orbit is what we’ve come to know as a supermoon.
Though this month’s supermoon is going to be uniquely impressive, the phenomenon itself is not rare. The most recent supermoon was just last month, and while some say September’s Harvest Moon fit the bill, others disagreed.
A third supermoon will arrive a month to the day after the Nov. 14 appearance.
Sadly, that December moon will also be a bit of a drag for stargazers because its abundance of luminescence is likely to erode our view of the typically spectacular Geminid meteor shower.
No comments:
Post a Comment