Extreme Supermoon

SUPERMOON
Credits : JPL/NASA

The term supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, defined as

A new or full moon which occurs with the Moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit . In short, Earth, Moon and Sun are all in a line, with Moon in its nearest approach to Earth. The technical term for this phenomenon is a perigee - syzygy wich is shortened to "supermoon"!!

            Well March 19 2011 has witnessed one of the "ExtremeSuperMoon" phenomenon..... which is repeating itself after an interval of 18 yrs..

Actualy its a common misconception that supermoon is a phenomena which occurs after 18 yrs,in truth there are about 4-6 super moons anualy.The extremesupermoon of march 19 2011 is the second super moon of the year....

The difference between a normal moon and a super moon is that

                         The Supermoon is
                                            -> 14% larger
                                             -> 30% brighter

To explain this pheomenon we must notice that the path of the moon around earth is eliptical (relatively) with earth at one of its focii and at perigee position the moon is closest to the earth and at this time we observe this miraculous phenomena..

The picture below shows the size differences observed at different positions in moons eliptical orbit.                                             

Apogee  and prigee of moon, Size difference can be clearly noted..

Due to the super moon phenomena the variations in tide,(ie is high tides and low tides) would be higher than normal.
This could be explained by the considering the inverse square law relation,

During a super moon event the "r"(distance) would be very short compared to the other times,  So there would be a high gravitational pull...and this pull results in the different tide levels..

The following is a list of past and predicted extreme supermoons.

• November 10, 1954
• November 20, 1972
• January 8, 1974
• February 26, 1975
• December 2, 1990
• January 19, 1992
• March 8, 1993
• January 10, 2005
• December 12, 2008
• January 30, 2010
• March 19, 2011
• November 14, 2016
• January 2, 2018
• January 21, 2023
• November 25, 2034
• January 13, 2036
  
  
  Astrologers of the past belive that occurence of a supermoon (its prediction)  is a sign of a impending disaster to come..and the coincidence of many natural disasters with this phenomenon is striking.
  There is a huge group of people who are blaming super moon for the march 11 tsunami that struck in Japan.In my point of view it is totally absurd.
  
  
  Perigee Moons do not trigger natural disasters. The "super moon" of March 1983 & SuperMoon of Dec. 2008 were  harmless contradicting its relation with Natural disasters...
  
  
  All I want to point out is that dont blame supermoon for the natural calamities we are facing. And  guys remember by doing so we are spoiling once a life time opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the miracles of nature. 
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       Below is the Copy of the Original Photo
   taken By our Friend Tony Mathew On March 19,2011
  View of the SuperMoon from KOTTAYAM, KERALA state (INDIA)
  
  
   
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More Reference:-

-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermoon#Dates_of_supermoons_between_1950_and_2050

-> http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16mar_supermoon/

• -> http://www.moonconnection.com/apogee_perigee.phtml
  -> http://www.astropro.com/features/articles/supermoon/