Community Corner
Don't Miss Super Moon Saturday Night
Tomorrow night's "Perigee Moon" will be 30 percent brighter and 14 percent bigger than usual, and dogs will be howling.
You might want to keep your eyes open Saturday night around 11:34 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The moon is going be quite spectacular, according to NASA Science News.
May’s full moon is a "Super Moon,” and will be as much as 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons of 2012. Known as a "perigee moon," it will line up with Earth and the sun to become brilliantly full.
NASA describes the phenomenon like this: "Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee"). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright."
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As a result, there will be unusually high and low tides this weekend and into next week.
Conversely, on Nov. 28 this year, the full moon will closely coincide with apogee, the moon's farthest point from Earth.
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Full moons have been blamed for all sorts of things through the ages - hospital admissions are said to increase, as does the crime rate, and people act oddly. In the Middle Ages the full moon was thought to cause lunacy, a word that comes from the Latin term for "moon."
No matter. Enjoy the view Saturday night.
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