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A full moon Friday 13 is pretty spooky, but keep your black cats. The full moon of September will also be a "micromoon".
Skywatchers from the central, mountain and Pacific time zones will have a full moon view tonight (September 13th) at 11:32 pm, 10:32 pm. and at 21:32, respectively, while the inhabitants of the East Coasters will see the moon at 14:32 on the 14th. Whatever the time zone, the moon will appear a little darker than usual (strange!), Because this will be at the apogee or the farthest distance from the Earth.
This means that the moon will appear about 14% smaller and 30% lower than when it is at its closest point to the Earth, called perigee.
Related, connected, related: 5 strange and fresh things we recently learned on the moon
Lunar mechanics
The orbit of the moon around the Earth is elliptical. Each month, while this natural satellite revolves around the planet, it goes through an apogee and a perigee. The moons at the perigee are called "supermoons". The nearest perigee of 2019 occurred on February 19, when the moon moved less than 226,681 miles (356,761 kilometers) from the Earth.
The farthest peak of the year was also in February, the 5th, when the moon was 406,555 km (252,622 miles). This month's climax keeps the Moon 406,377 km away.
Realistically, the difference between a supermoon and a micromoon is hard to spot. "[It’s] not enough to notice unless you're a very cautious moon observer, "Alan MacRobert, editor of Sky & Telescope magazine Statement 2016. Indeed, the term "supermoon" only appeared in the lexicon that in 1979, according to this statement, and it was not until a wave of three supermoons in 2016 that the term has become popular.
Terms of the moon
Although the full moon is less intense than usual, Friday the 13th could look a little scary, but do not expect a werewolf. Full moons took place on Friday 13th without any ill effects, and many researches have revealed that moon cycles do not affect humans. Unlike the popular mythyou are not more likely to have work, epileptic seizures or become insane facing the full moon.
It is possible, however, that this month's superstitious moon of the month may spur the micromoon's public relations. Perhaps, because the bigger it is, the better it is, that the micro or the minimoons have not received the same attention as the supermoons. Google minimoon, and you will get more results regarding a local honeymoon than any astronomical phenomenon (although the sister site of Live Science, Space.com used the term). The term micromoon has been in play since at least 2016, as in this Side-by-side comparison of NASA from the moon to the perigee and the apogee. But while "supermoon" will bring you more than 9.3 million Google results, the number of micromoon is less than one million.
Will the fuzzy Friday of the 13th month of full moon change that? Stay tuned. The next full micromoon will not happen before October 1, 2020.
Originally published on Science live.
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