The Moon is slowly coming nearer to the Earth and last night millions of people witnessed the result of this gradual change. It was a rare supermoon that appeared on the night sky yesterday. This is the first of the three supermoons scheduled to appear this year. The other two, according to reports, will respectively appear on September 27 and October 27.
For those who don’t know: the term supermoon is used for a phenomenon that makes the Moon look 14% bigger. This happens because the orbit of the Moon gets closer to the Blue Planet compared to what it stays during other times of the year.
On an average, the Moon is situated 238,855 miles away from the Earth. However, during the time of supermoon (astrologers refer to this phenomenon as “perigee full moon”), the distance between the Earth and the Moon becomes only 222,361 miles. This automatically makes the Moon look much bigger to people on Earth.
Reports are suggesting that people in the Canary Islands got the best view of Saturday’s supermoon. The Canary Islands are situated on the western coast of North Africa and include a bunch of Spanish Isles.
The extra large presence of the Moon is not only causing a stir among people interested in activities of the satellite; the event is also causing a stir in the water bodies. By coming closer to the Earth, the Moon is drawing in quite a formidable tide. This is happening because there’s a strong connection between tides and Moon’s gravitational pull.
As the tides connected to Moon’s gravitational pull are rising and falling, scientists have started speculating that the supermoon might end up triggering coastal flooding, particularly considering the tropical depression taking place in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Gemma Lavender of the Royal Astronomical Society has, however, said that rumors suggesting that a supermoon invites tidal floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions should never be believed. She feels that having the Moon so close to the Earth provides us with a great opportunity of having a clearer idea about the objects on the satellite’s surface.
Yesterday’s supermoon left experts highly impressed. Some have even compared it with the mini moon that appeared in March and exclaimed that only a reduction in distance between the Blue Planet and its satellite resulted in such striking change in the Moon’s size for people on Earth.
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