'Supermoon' set to coincide with lunar eclipse

[Deleted]

A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky.

The eclipse - expected to make the Moon appear red in colour - will be visible in North America, South America, West Africa and western Europe.
Nasa claims a supermoon last coincided with a lunar eclipse in 1982 and is not expected to again until 2033.
But the definition of a supermoon is debated among astronomers.
Skywatchers in the western half of North America, the rest of Europe and Africa, the Middle East and South Asia will see a partial eclipse.

From the UK, observers will see the Moon pass through the Earth's shadow in the early hours of Monday morning. In North and South America the eclipse will be seen on Sunday evening.

Unfortunately I will be fast asleep tonight

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34375868

[Revi]

Yep, got my alarm set to 4 AM, figured I'd at least catch a glimpse of it, then go back to sleep

[Deleted]

Looks like it will be a while before I get to sleep today. I am afraid I can't miss that.

[Gheld]

Am I the only one around here who's sick and tired of hearing people say "Supermoon" every time the moon is at perigee?

"Durr did you hear? It's a super moon tonight!" Like it's some kind of rare astronomical event. Which it isn't.

[Deleted]

Am I the only one around here who's sick and tired of hearing people say "Supermoon" every time the moon is at perigee?

"Durr did you hear? It's a super moon tonight!" Like it's some kind of rare astronomical event. Which it isn't.

Well regarding humans this event is rather rare

[Ripster42]

Am I the only one around here who's sick and tired of hearing people say "Supermoon" every time the moon is at perigee?

"Durr did you hear? It's a super moon tonight!" Like it's some kind of rare astronomical event. Which it isn't.

Yes, you're the only one. I'm going to start calling a new moon the anti-supermoon.

[Gheld]

Yes, you're the only one. I'm going to start calling a new moon the anti-supermoon.

It's only anti-supermoon if the moon is also at apogee. Otherwise it's an invisible raging-semi moon.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention that this is called moneybags and it only happens once every 833 years.

[Deleted]

Am I the only one around here who's sick and tired of hearing people say "Supermoon" every time the moon is at perigee?

"Durr did you hear? It's a super moon tonight!" Like it's some kind of rare astronomical event. Which it isn't.

nope, got sick and tired of it being mentioned on every single channel several times a day, as for seeing it, it the UK we are more likely to see clouds than a dirty, slightly bigger moon. Think ill catch the highlights on you tube where at least I wont be bothered with clouds.

[Ripster42]

It's only anti-supermoon if the moon is also at apogee. Otherwise it's an invisible raging-semi moon.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention that this is called moneybags and it only happens once every 833 years.

You think I'm calling it the anti-supermoon to be astronomically correct and not just to annoy you?

[Stonecloak]

What about Mars? I heard Nasa is going to release info on a discovery tommorow.

[Gheld]

You think I'm calling it the anti-supermoon to be astronomically correct and not just to annoy you?

No I think the term supermoon has emerged as part of the "over-hype everything that isn't really that exciting" movement that has taken over social media in recent years. Like I can't count how many times a month the moon is supposed to be pink, or purple or anything in between.

But I mean, there's more than just the distance between the earth and the moon influencing how it will appear to observers on the ground... The obliquity of the light is one of the biggest ones. The moon always looks bigger when it's rising on the horizon than it does when it hits the top of the sky. The brightness (Which can depend on air quality) also plays a huge rule because the more concentrated and less interfered with the light reflecting off of the moon into your eye is the more detail you will see and the more detail you remember the bigger it will seem to you.

But on any given night if you were to take a piece of paper that has had a hole punched using a standard hole puncher and hold it a foot from your face you can frame the entire moon with it. It never seems that small but perceptive bias plays a huge role.

Not to mention without anything to immediately compare it to side by side it won't seem any different than any other time you've looked at the moon. Not to mention it's only a little bit closer than it was the day before. It might be at perigee tonight but the night before it was almost completely at perigee, and tomorrow night it will still be almost completely at perigee but moving further away.

Not to mention it was almost full but waxing yesterday and it will be almost full but waning tomorrow. I doubt anybody on here could pick out the full moon from last night, tonight and tomorrow from a photo lineup.

And I've seen the moon appear red and orange numerous times without an eclipse. On a really hazy night when the moon is low on the horizon it looks red due to the way the light scatters.

So there's really nothing special about a "supermoon" to a layman. And to everybody else "a full moon at perigee" is a better term.

- - - Updated - - -

What about Mars? I heard Nasa is going to release info on a discovery tommorow.

I think they are trying to avoid hyping it after what happened to the last mars press conference where everybody was expecting something huge.

[Aeula]

Giant space rock gets flashy flash in sky. Wow. I've got a driving lesson tomorrow, otherwise I'd use it as an excuse to stay up and play Divinity original sin.

[Azadina]

I want to see this, please, no clouds tonight *crosses fingers*

[Deleted]

I was just reading about this on Discovery News. I've got my telescope ready!

You dont really need a telescope for the moon?

[Coombs]

No I think the term supermoon has emerged as part of the "over-hype everything that isn't really that exciting" movement that has taken over social media in recent years. Like I can't count how many times a month the moon is supposed to be pink, or purple or anything in between.

But I mean, there's more than just the distance between the earth and the moon influencing how it will appear to observers on the ground... The obliquity of the light is one of the biggest ones. The moon always looks bigger when it's rising on the horizon than it does when it hits the top of the sky. The brightness (Which can depend on air quality) also plays a huge rule because the more concentrated and less interfered with the light reflecting off of the moon into your eye is the more detail you will see and the more detail you remember the bigger it will seem to you.

But on any given night if you were to take a piece of paper that has had a hole punched using a standard hole puncher and hold it a foot from your face you can frame the entire moon with it. It never seems that small but perceptive bias plays a huge role.

Not to mention without anything to immediately compare it to side by side it won't seem any different than any other time you've looked at the moon. Not to mention it's only a little bit closer than it was the day before. It might be at perigee tonight but the night before it was almost completely at perigee, and tomorrow night it will still be almost completely at perigee but moving further away.

Not to mention it was almost full but waxing yesterday and it will be almost full but waning tomorrow. I doubt anybody on here could pick out the full moon from last night, tonight and tomorrow from a photo lineup.

And I've seen the moon appear red and orange numerous times without an eclipse. On a really hazy night when the moon is low on the horizon it looks red due to the way the light scatters.

So there's really nothing special about a "supermoon" to a layman. And to everybody else "a full moon at perigee" is a better term.

- - - Updated - - -



I think they are trying to avoid hyping it after what happened to the last mars press conference where everybody was expecting something huge.

It is cute when people give their astronomy 101 lectures back to others to show their intellectual superiority. They call it a supermoon because that is what you do when communicating in layman terms, it happens all the time with everything.

[Gheld]

You dont really need a telescope for the moon?

Maybe she's severely far sighted, and needs very powerful refractive lenses to bring anything closer than .5 AU into focus.

[Samesnotatroll]

You think I'm calling it the anti-supermoon to be astronomically correct and not just to annoy you?

He was taking the opportunity to show off his understanding of the moon it's phases and it's movement. He through (threw* I'm a derp) out some words that most are not familiar with, that's cool, but don't be such a douche hipster about it.

[Deleted]

Maybe she's severely far sighted, and needs very powerful refractive lenses to bring anything closer than .5 AU into focus.

that would be debilitating blindness levels man.

[Samesnotatroll]

that would be debilitating blindness levels man.

He is seriously trying to show off his knowledge on the subject. I like that you know so much, but it's kind of a shame to know so much about a subject you are sick of hearing about and essentially bashing people being excited to see the moon in a different way than normal. Why do you hate peoples excitement? Does happiness piss you off?

[Coombs]

He is seriously trying to show off his knowledge on the subject. I like that you know so much, but it's kind of a shame to know so much about a subject you are sick of hearing about and essentially bashing people being excited to see the moon in a different way than normal. Why do you hate peoples excitement? Does happiness piss you off?

You mean the knowledge obtained by lecture #3 in a basic astronomy course? Lol not that impressive.