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posted by martyb on Monday February 18 2019, @02:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the do-"flat-Earthers"-believe-in-a-flat-moon? dept.

"Skygazers will be treated to the 'super snow moon,' on Feb. 19, the largest supermoon of 2019.

February’s full moon is known as the “snow moon” as a result of the heavy snowfall that often occurs at that time of year...............

Supermoons occur when the Moon’s orbit brings it to the closest point to Earth while the Moon is full." foxnews.com/science/get-set-for-super-snow-moon-the-biggest-supermoon-of-the-year


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @02:58PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @02:58PM (#802965)

    Why are there so many of these ``the moon is barely-perceptibly larger than othertimes'' stories? Because people can go out and look at it without equipment and imagine they can see it?

  • (Score: 2) by martyb on Monday February 18 2019, @03:31PM (1 child)

    by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 18 2019, @03:31PM (#802987) Journal

    People have to get their start somewhere.

    I remember looking up at the moon and admiring the different plains and crests. Then became interested in how the phase of the moon would change depending on its orbital position around the Earth. Later I learned that the moon does not orbit in a perfect circle and that there were these things called apogee and perigee (when the moon was at its furthest and nearest distances from the Earth). Oh, and the Earth has an apogee and perigee with respect to the Sun. It kept on from there. One thing led to learning about another, but it had to start somewhere!

    As an aside, there is also the Moon illusion [wikipedia.org] where the Moon at sunset appears larger than when it is away from the horizon.

    Combine a supermoon with the moon illusion (and a bit of curiosity) and someone might want to see what things look like when we have a "micromoon" (full moon when the Moon is at its apogee -- furthest distance from the Earth).

    Oh, and though the apparent size is not that great, the apparent illumination is much greater [wikipedia.org] : only 14% bigger but 30% brighter!

    --
    Wit is intellect, dancing.