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Moon at its closest to earth on Saturday

Cast your gaze to the night sky on Saturday night, for the moon will be in its closest possible position to the earth, something that only occurs once every 18 years

Tifa Asrianti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, March 17, 2011

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Moon at its closest to earth on Saturday

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ast your gaze to the night sky on Saturday night, for the moon will be in its closest possible position to the earth, something that only occurs once every 18 years.

As the moon has an elliptical orbit, it comes closes to the earth once a month, which is termed a lunar perigee. This month’s lunar perigee is special because it will coincide with the full moon, scientists say.

“The moon will look slightly bigger and brighter because it will reflect more of the sun’s rays,” National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) solar and aerospace division head Bachtiar Anwar said.

This Saturday the moon will be 356,577 kilometers from the earth, much closer than February’s perigee of 358,246 kilometers. April’s will be 358,087 kilometers away.

Lapan astronomer and astrophysics expert Thomas Djamaluddin said that during the perigee the moon would look seven percent larger than usual.

“If the sky is clear we can observe the perigee with the naked eye. The perigee will start once the sun sets at 6:11 p.m., and will reach its peak at 2:10 a.m. on Sunday,” Thomas said.

Lunar perigees happen once every 27.3 days, while a full moon occurs once every 29.5 days. Due to the period differentials, the perigee does not always coordinate with the full moon.

When both a lunar perigee and a full moon occur, astronomers call the phenomenon an “extreme supermoon” and believe that it occurs before extreme weather like cyclones. 1974’s Cyclone Tracy in Australia occurred during a supermoon.

Astronomers say that the close proximity of the earth and the moon can even trigger tectonic plate movements.

“In astronomy there is no scientific proof that a supermoon is related to disasters. Scientifically, there is no reason to worry about this phenomenon,” Bachtiar said.

Thomas expressed a similar opinion, quick to add that people should remain on alert for potential disasters. He said during a perigee and full moon waves will reach maximum heights due to both solar and lunar tidal effects.

“If the weather is bad, with strong winds or storms, and we also have this supermoon that causes high waves then it can pose dangers. There could be floods in some areas depending on conditions,” he said.

He said if the weather was good and there was no energy build-up in earthquake-susceptible areas things should go as normal.

The earth has stored a tremendous amount of internal energy within its thin outer shell or crust, and the small differences in the tidal forces exerted by the moon and the sun are not enough to fundamentally overcome the much larger forces within the planet.

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