in and around Johannesburg

Before,during and after.Supermoon 2012

May 6, 2012

495

A “supermoon” is the coincidence of a full moon (or a new moon) with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, or perigee, leading to the technical name for a supermoon of the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system.

The association of the Moon with both oceanic and crustal tides has led to claims that the supermoon phenomenon may be associated with increased risk of events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. However, the evidence of such a link is widely held to be unconvincing.

Taken on the 4/05

Mouldy cheese?

The Moon’s distance varies each month between approximately 357,000 kilometers and 406,000 km due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth

The size and brightness of an object follows an inverse-square law, which means that a full moon at perigee is 12% larger and brighter than an average full moon.

The name SuperMoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, defined as:

…a new or full moon which occurs with the Moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit (perigee). In short, Earth, Moon and Sun are all in a line, with Moon in its nearest approach to Earth.

Our neighbour’s tree lit by the moon…

As there was not a cloud in the sky,

I decided to use our Common Ash tree to give some alternative images.

Almost looks like a shadow puppet

No, this is not a street lamp…

One last “skulking” image…

Richard Nolle has argued that within ±3 days of a supermoon, the Earth is more subject to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic activity due to the Moon’s increased gravitational force.

Speculations have moved the goalposts to within 1 or 2 weeks of a supermoon to suggest a causal relationship with specific natural disasters such as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.