Perigee Full Moon this Saturday

[tyler811]

From An email I received

I expect many of you have read one of the news reports about how tomorrow night’s Full Moon will be the largest we have seen in more than 20 years. This happens because the Moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly out of round. Every once in a while, the Full Moon happens at the same time the Moon is closest to Earth. This close point is called perigee. This coincidence of Full Moon and perigee happens once a year.

And while it is true that this year’s perigee Full Moon is the closest since 1993, it really isn’t that much of a big deal. To give you an idea of what a non-event this really is, consider this:
The difference between this years “perigee Full Moon” on Saturday, March 19, and last years that happened on January 30, 2010, is less than 20 miles.
That is 0.005% different. A much greater difference can be seen when you compare the “perigee Full Moon” with the “apogee Full Moon”. This happens when the Full Moon occurs when the Moon is farthest from Earth in its orbit. This year that happens on October 11. This “apogee Full Moon” will appear about 14% smaller than tomorrows “perigee Full Moon”.

Even though this Full Moon really isn’t all that special, it will still be very neat to see. Find someplace to observe from where you have nothing blocking your eastern horizon. Look for the Moon to rise in the east as the Sun sets in the west.

While you are out, look VERY low in the western sky as soon as the sky barely starts to darken. There, you will see bright Jupiter just above the horizon. Above and slightly right of Jupiter look for slightly dimmer Mercury.

Let’s hope for clear skies!
Richard Walker
Longway Planetarium

 

[pyonir]

Poorly titled thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2149978&highlight=moon