Extreme Supermoon tonight – Will disaster follow?
The March 19, 2011 Full Moon will be, not only a Supermoon, but an Extreme Supermoon. The phenomenon, called lunar perigee or Supermoon, happens when the moon reaches its absolute closest point to Earth. On March 19, the natural satellite will be only 221,567 miles away from our planet. The closest in 19 years. Tonight’s full moon will be 14% bigger than when it is at it’s apogee (furthest away). If you are lucky enough to have clear skies it will appear much bigger than a regular Full Moon.
Speculations of a link between the occurrence of Supermoons and natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami are extremely tenuous. Arguments have been made that natural disasters coinciding with years in which Supermoons occurred were influenced by the Moon’s increased gravitational strength, though because of the monthly alternation between lunar apogee and perigee such an argument cannot be supported unless the disaster in question falls on the actual date of the Supermoon.
It has been argued that the Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake on December 26, 2004, was influenced by a Supermoon which occurred 2 weeks later on January 10, 2005. However two weeks before a Supermoon the Moon is at the opposite point in its orbit: its apogee (greatest distance). Thus a Supermoon effect is impossible.
Most recently, astrologers argued that the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, was influenced by the March 19 Supermoon, because it is the closest Supermoon for almost 20 years. The problem with this claim is that on March 11 the Moon was actually closer to apogee than perigee, at approximately 400,000 km (240,000 mi) from the Earth, which is further than the average distance between the Moon and the Earth throughout the Moon’s orbital cycle.
There were Supermoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 (Extreme Supermoon) and 2005, and these years had their share of extreme weather conditions, too. Although there are scientific laws that say the moon affects the Earth, it’s still ambiguous whether the lunar perigee and natural disasters is coincidence or not.
I’ll just howl and avoid living on any fault lines…do for me
Times flies these days, there seems to be a full moon every week.
I’ll be out there with my little camera too.
I’ll be outside with my trust flip cam and my Nikon SLR waiting for that moon to come a’risin’. Thanks for reminding us.
I’m sure we all remember that big natural disaster caused by the last supermoon 19 years ago. No? Okay, how about the one before that? Or the one before that? Or…
Dead right Modemac. The Earth is a dangerous place all on its own.