March 9, 2011
The moon will appear bigger next weekend as it makes its closest approach to earth for 19 years during an event known as a “lunar perigee”.
On March 19 the moon will reach a distance of just 221,567 miles from Earth – the nearest it will have come since 1992.
Previous “supermoons” occured around the time natural disasters – including the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and Cyclone Tracy which devastated the Australian city of Darwin in 1974 – but scientists say there is no evidence to suggest the phenomenon is a sign of impending doom.
Pete Wheeler, of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy, told the website news.com.au: “There will be no earthquakes or volcanoes erupting, unless they are to happen anyway.
“The Earth will experience just a lower than usual low tide and a higher than usual high tide around the time of the event, but nothing to get excited about.”
This article was posted: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 5:42 am