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By mid-November, Chicago's World Series afterglow will have faded and the hotly contested presidential election will be done and dusted, but North Americans will have one more "once in a lifetime event" to look forward to: The biggest, most spectacular supermoon in decades.
On November 14, skywatchers will be rewarded with a lunar close-up, the result of a coincidence between the moon's elliptical orbit and the position of the Earth and Sun.
A "supermoon" is the colloquial term for when a full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to Earth, known as perigee.
Supermoon, Black Moon, the Cubs winning the World Series...the signs are upon us. The end is nigh.
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Here Comes a Once-in-a-Lifetime Supermoon
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(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday November 08 2016, @12:23PM
I'll certainly agree with you about the unnecessary hype, and the term "supermoon" is unfortunate. (And thanks for the graphic!)
But just to play devil's advocate: if you think of this from a layman's perspective -- i.e., the average person who might barely be able to find a couple constellations or something -- what astronomical event is actually potentially more noticeable and spectacular than a full moon? Maybe a significant meteor shower or a total eclipse. But that's about it.
We hear about "once-in-a-lifetime" astronomical events every month or so. Some planet is lining up with some other planet in some unusual configuration. To the layman, who can't really find the planets even if he went looking for them, isn't that "overhyped"? Why should he care?
While I completely agree that to an astronomer this is probably less significant than it sounds, I also think it's potentially one of the more significant astronomical things that a layman could actually look at easily in the sky... and the moon might actually seem a bit more larger than usual. (Or, more likely, a layman who doesn't spend a lot of time looking up at the sky might just be awed if he has a good view of the full moon in general.)
Thus, I'm actually not sure this is that much "hype" for the layman compared to any other astronomical news/events which tend to be mentioned in major media.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday November 08 2016, @06:28PM
You don't need to wait for a once-in-a-lifetime event to see how amazing the sky is.
Find the local amateur astronomy club and find their Star Party schedule. If it is clear out, I guarantee you will see something amazing.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh