[youtube]r1yalg_Apdw[/youtube] Supermoon"Supermoon" has the world saying the night sky on March 19–20 will be a rare sight. NASA says the moon will make its closest encounter with Earth in 18 years. In addition, it will be a full moon.
The moon's orbit is an ellipse, with "perigee" being the position at which the moon is closest to Earth. “Syzygy” refers to full moon times, when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned. Scientists and astronomers call the Supermoon "perigee-syzygy," which is essentially a combination of the two cases.
"The full moon of March 19th occurs less than one hour away from perigee—a near-perfect coincidence that happens only 18 years or so," said Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory, according to NASA.
Earth will find itself 221,567 miles away from the moon, about 7 percent closer than average, according to NASA.
“Moonageddon”?
Talks have been brewing that Supermoon will signify or cause disaster on Earth.
Astrologer Richard Nolle, who coined the name “Supermoon” in 1979, says on his website astropro.com that there are 4–6 Supermoons a year on average, contrary to media reports of Supermoons happening every 10–20 years.
"Supermoons, in fact, have a historical association with strong storms, very high tides, extreme tides, and also earthquakes," Nolle, who linked what he called the recent Supermoon on Feb. 18 with the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand on Feb. 22, told ABC Radio.
Nolle is not the only one who claims the upcoming Supermoon will herald disaster. New Zealand mathematician Ken Ring, who claimed to have predicted the Christchurch earthquake, says there will be "increased chance of earthquake activity" Mar 19–25 around the South Island of New Zealand, according to National Business Review.
Kit Karson at psychiccosmos.com says this will be the second of three Supermoons this year, with “a noticeable change in Earth activity, along with gas leaks or explosions and earthquakes” from February to April.
These predictions ring extremely tenuous to many scientists and astronomers. They are certain that a Supermoon would not have any impact other than temporary higher-than-normal tides.
James Garvin, NASA's Chief Scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, says the Supermoon’s effect on the weather would be minor.
"The combination of the Moon being at its closest to Earth in its orbit, and being in its 'Full Moon' configuration (relative to the Earth and sun), should not affect the internal energy balance of the Earth, since there are lunar tides every day," Garvin said, according to NASA.
"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 Sun) are not enough to fundamentally overcome the much larger forces within the planet due to convection (and other aspects of the internal energy balance that drives plate tectonics)."
It cannot be confirmed whether the Supermoon will cause or coincide with disasters on Earth. But one thing's for sure: the media's hype about Supermoon will have astronomers peering through their telescopes on Saturday.
