Supermoon Today: Experience It Even By Staying Home; 10 Points

Today, you can feast your eyes on a ‘bright pink supermoon’, a phenomenon when the full moon appears to be larger than the usual one. In India, the supermoon will be visible from the evening of April 7 till the morning of April 8.

(Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In an environment of global panic and fear caused by the pandemic, a celestial distraction will be a relief. Today, you can feast your eyes on a ‘bright pink supermoon’, a phenomenon when the full moon appears to be larger than the usual one.  In India, the supermoon will be visible from the evening of April 7 till the morning of April 8.

Here are some facts on this astronomical event:

• A supermoon is when the moon is in its full moon phase and is at the closest distance to earth. The orbit the earth in an ellipse than a perfect circle. So there are points on the earth which makes the moon farther away (apogee) and close to (perigee) the earth. When the moon is in its perigee it is about 363,300 kilometers from Earth the closest it can get and therefore appears bigger. Normally, a full moon can occur at any point along the orbit, supermoons occur only when the full moon is at the perigee.
• There is also micromoon, which is a full moon that is farthest from earth
• A supermoon can appear to be almost 7 percent bigger than an average full moon and will be 30 percent brighter
• Interestingly, the term supermoon was coined by a US-based astrologer Richard Nolle who used it in 1979 in an astrology magazine, Dell Horoscope. According to him, he wanted a word that could explain the celestial phenomenon ‘Perigee syzygy’ to the common man.
• The term then got picked up by science writer became popular since 2009.
• The moon affects oceanic tides on earth, and it is believed that Supermoon causes more earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on earth. This view is also supported by Nolle. But repeated scientific studies have found no basis for this assumption.
• Although it is called the ‘pink supermoon’, it does not mean the moon will appear in this colour. Instead, it represents Phlox subulata flowers or moss pink which blooms in the spring season in the US and Canada.
• You can experience the full moon better if you are near the horizon, where the moon will appear to look bigger.
• This year sees a couple of back to back supermoon there was a supermoon phenomenon even in March. This happened in 2016 as well when supermoons occurred in October, November, and December. In 2019, supermoon also coincided with a lunar eclipse.
• If you miss this one the next one is on 7^th May 2020.

But don’t forget the lockdown is still in progress and it is advisable to experience the celestial event only from your homes- balcony or terrace rather than stepping out