"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
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @05:37PM (3 children)
This anticlimatic supermoon bullshit gets more coverage than an eclipse FFS and has to stop! 99.99% of all people on earth give the moon at best a momentarily glance anytime it's up in the sky and are unable to tell the 10-20% size difference of a full moon at apogee or perigee, or in other words, slightly smaller full moon vs slightly larger full moon.
Let's use a large pizza analogy to help everyone understand: let's say an apogee full moon is a 17" pizza, an average full moon is a 18" pizza, and a perigee or supermoon is an 19" pizza. Without actually measuring or comparing your pizza to past pizzas, if you put either pizza (moon) on a large table (the sky) most people would not be able to tell if the pizza is 17", 18", or 19" in diameter.
Nobody used the word 'super-moon' until about a decade ago when some snowflakes on social medial thought the term would be "cute" or dramatic. Kind of like how the dramatic and scary phrase 'polar vortex' is used every-single-time to describe normal winter temperatures below 0F. If you are in Great Britain or along the Mediterranean, North Carolina then sure that would be hella-unusual winter temperatures and sure lets use a scary catch phrase, but for the upper 1/3 of continental US or most of Canada that is called normal winter weather.
Additionally, for all you that think a supermoon is an astronomical or scientific term it is not! The term was coined in the 1970's by astrologers, NOT astronomers. So much for science.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday February 18 2019, @07:28PM
" So much for science from rDT"
TFTFY
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday February 18 2019, @08:01PM
You missed by at least 25 years. The observant certainly can notice the apparent size and brightness difference. It's not really that amazing but it's noticeable. It's just a very minor curiosity really. Or as good of an excuse as any to look up or have a party (as if an excuse is needed).
If it makes a few kids a little more curious or causes a few minutes of quality time with a parent, it's worth a lot more than carping about it is.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:35AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiajp9g3c8s&list=PL79ABCDE194850920&index=21 [youtube.com]
When life isn't going right, go left.