By now you’ve probably heard about the “super” moon that’s coming Saturday night. There’s been a lot of hype. And I’m glad astronomy is being talked about.
But let’s be real. Most people, if they’re being honest, won’t be able to tell the difference between a “super” moon and a regular moon.
This Saturday, at 10:34 p.m. CT, the moon will make its closest approach to Earth in its oval-shaped orbit around Earth. That’s about 30,000 miles closer than its most distant point from Earth.
At the same time — one minute later, to be precise, NASA says — the Earth, Sun and Moon will align such that the Moon is perfectly full.
All of this means the full Moon will appear 14 percent larger than its smallest (most distant) version, and 30 percent brighter than its most dim version. Sounds like a big deal, but without a frame of reference it will probably be hard to tell the difference:
To further splash some cold water on this event: modern scientific studies have found no correlation between a full moon and crime, sickness, and human behavior.
A closer moon makes tides, on average, about 1 inch higher.
And do you recall the “super” moon on March 19, of 2011? I didn’t think so. That “super” moon was 250 miles closer to the Earth.
On a more upbeat note, if you want to revel in our solar system and lunar gazing, take a look at this ridiculously cool video that shows how different planets would appear from Earth if they were the same distance as the Moon.
Be sure to wait for Jupiter.