Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An event called a "supermoon" occurs when the full Moon is closest to Earth (perigee). The largest possible apparent diameter of the Moon is the same 12% larger (as perigee versus apogee distances) than the smallest; the apparent area is 25% more and so is the amount of light it reflects toward Earth.
The apsides refer to the farthest (2) and nearest (3) points reached by an orbiting planetary body (2 and 3) with respect to a primary, or host, body (1). An apsis (from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís) 'arch, vault'; pl. apsides / ˈ æ p s ɪ ˌ d iː z / AP-sih-deez) [1] [2] is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body.
This shows that the smallest perigee occurs at either new moon or full moon (ca 356870 km), as does the greatest apogee (ca 406079 km), whereas the greatest perigee will be around half-moon (ca 370180 km), as will be the smallest apogee (ca 404593 km). The exact values will be slightly different due to other terms.
Compare it to a full moon at apogee (also called a micromoon), and a supermoon’s diameter can appear just shy of 14% percent larger. ... Full Moon Perigee (Full Supermoon) Table Courtesy of Fred ...
At perigee (closest), since the Moon is up to 14% closer to Earth than at apogee (most distant), it subtends a solid angle which is up to 30% larger. Consequently, given the same phase, the Moon's brightness also varies by up to 30% between apogee and perigee. [208] A full (or new) moon at such a position is called a supermoon. [202] [203] [209]
The opposite of a perigee, when the moon is at its farthest point, is called apogee. Perigee and apogee happen in each lunar cycle, but a supermoon only happens when the perigee happens on a full ...
This kind of precession is that of the major axis of the Moon's elliptic orbit (the line of the apsides from perigee to apogee), which precesses eastward by 360° in approximately 8.85 years.
According to NASA, that means the moon looked 30% brighter and 14% larger than when the moon's orbit is at its furthest from us, or apogee. Read more: August to kick off four straight months of ...