This weekend will see a “super” moon. A supermoon happens when the moon is full and in perigee. This means the moon is at it’s closest approach point to the Earth. The moon and Earth have elliptical orbits and so are different distances apart at different times of the year.
The moon may appear to be full from May the 4th through to May the 6th this year. When will the UK see the supermoon? The moment of the supermoon will be brief; starting at 03:34 GMT and finishing at 03:36 GMT on Sunday the 6th of May.
Some mainstream press has given out the incorrect time for the supermoon. The Daily Mail is suggesting it will occur at 3:35 pm on Saturday. Unless they know about cosmos shaking events – this will be wrong.
There was a supermoon in 2011 – which resulted in some amazing photographs and even a tide of World War II bombs washing onto a beach in Southampton.
At nearly the exact same time the Eta Aquarid meteor shower should be hitting the peak. However, there’s the concern that the extra brightness from the super moon may make the meteor shower, which is in a different part of the sky, harder to see.
NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com that;
““Its light will wash out the fainter Eta Aquarid meteors,”
In Pure Spirit
Will you be doing anything for the supermoon this year? And if you had to pick only one to watch – would you watch the meteor shower or the super moon?
Picture credit: Phil Ostroff
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