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Facebook feeds, online articles, astrologists, astronomers, opinionated individuals, basically everyone has a little something to say about the moon these days. This year on August 29, we will see the first Supermoon from the total amount of three we will deeply feel and obviously see on the night skies. Unfortunately, the National Weather Service has predicted dull weather these days so the clouds will slightly cover the amazing landscape.
What sky watchers are most interested in is the perigee, namely the exact time and date when the moon gets closest to Earth. This year, the perigee will happen on August 30, at 11 a.m. and 222.631 km away from Earth.
Full moon and perigee both occur at exactly the same time when viewed from anywhere on our planet, although the time on our clocks may be different, depending where we choose or happen to see it from. Less than a day’s change in position makes it obvious that the moon is no longer full.
In North America, this year’s perigee will occur on daytime, so it will be harder for our eyes to see what happens over the horizon. The moon will be below the horizon, and the best time to see the full amazing and fascinating celestial body close to perigee will be on Saturday evening, on August 29. At that moment, the moon will be only a few hours after its fullest state and perigee will be a few hours after that.
Traditionally known as the Harvest Moon, the moon we see in September is known under this name as it rises around sunset on several successive nights, giving farmers extra light in the evening, to help them see and bring in their harvests.
The full moon occurs every time when the sun, Earth and moon all line up with the Earth in the middle. When we see things from the surface of the Earth, the moon is always fully illuminated. As it is opposite the sun in the sky, the moon will always rise in the east exactly like the sun sets in the west. After 12 hours, the moon sets in the west just like the sun rises in the east.
A full moon occurs 29.53 days after the previous full moon. This happens as the moon’s orbit around the Earth is not exactly a perfect circle but instead it is elliptical in shape. The exact time of full moon varies from month to month.
Sometimes it happens that the moon gets closest to the earth, phenomenon known as “perigee. When the moon is farthest, we experience the “apogee”. This year’s perigee will come along with many astronomical events so we will not only see the moon at its greatest, but we will feel it deep within our spirits.
Image Source: higherdensity.wordpress.com
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