Check out the info below - explains a whole slew of things you might be experiencing - bad dreams or strange dreams, bad drivers, feeling ill, not to mention all the people undoubtedly delivering babies tonight.
BIG FULL MOON: Tonight's full Moon is the biggest full Moon of 2007. It's no illusion. Some full Moons are genuinely larger than others and this one is a whopper. Why? Read the answer below.Left: A big, bright perigee Moon. Right: A lesser apogee Moon.
The Moon's orbit is an ellipse with one side 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the other. The full Moon of Oct. 25-26 is located on the near side, making it appear as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons we've seen earlier in 2007.
In the language of astronomy, the two ends of the Moon's orbit are called "apogee" and "perigee." Apogee is the farthest point, perigee the nearest: diagram. This week's full Moon is a "perigee Moon" with extra-high "perigean tides."
The Moon is 14% bigger, but can you actually tell the difference? It's not so easy. There are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. A fun experiment: Take a friend outside tonight and ask if they notice anything unusual about the Moon. Explain perigee after they answer.
Taken from SpaceWeather.com
2 comments:
The moon was so gorgeous last night and this morning! I've been in a flurry of activity the past couple of days and have been having trouble sleeping--I'm sure that has something to do with it.
It was beautiful indeed. I saw it first thing in the morning. Huge and bright bright bright.
But as beautiful as it was - I'm happy to see it go...
Here's to getting a good night's sleep!
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