The moon on Sunday night will be much more than one sees it on a Pournima — it will be brighter and look bigger. The situation is called super moon and the scientific term is perigee moon, used when the moon is nearest to the earth.
There are three super moons this year, in May, June and July but full moon on this Sunday will be the best, the Planetary Society, India informed in a press release on Friday, quoting earthsky.org. The super moons are as much as 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter compared to the normal full moon.
People can watch the “super of super moons” by looking towards east on Sunday when the moon rises at 6:40 p.m. and the best time to watch it is when it is close to the horizon or on Monday morning when it sets in the west.
The distance between the earth and moon varies from 3,56,400 km to 4,06,700 km during the moon’s oval shaped orbit.
The average distance between the two is 3,84,800 km.
The last time a super moon occurred was on May 6, 2012, which was 36 km closer than what will be experienced on Sunday when the moon comes to a distance of 3,56,989 km. It is also observed that the super moon occurs in a duration of one year, one month and 18 days and hence the next super moon will be on August 10, 2014. Moon will be farthest from earth this year on July 7, at 4,06,491 km.
The Planetary Society also informed that planet Saturn is visible in the evening skies rising at east after sunset since April 28. It can be spotted as a non-twinkling bright object.
Planet Venus is visible in the evening skies immediately after sunset for the last one month or more.
It appears as a non-twinkling bright object in the east direction.
