Tweet
Bigger and brighter 'supermoon' to light up night sky
Bigger and brighter 'supermoon' to light up night sky
The night sky is set to be illuminated later by what will appear to be a much bigger and brighter Moon.
The so-called "supermoon" occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to earth, known as a perigee full moon.
The effect is to make the Moon seem 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.
Skywatchers who miss the phenomenon this weekend because of cloudy skies will have to wait until August 2014 for the next one.
Space expert Heather Couper said "supermoons" were the result of coincidence.
"The Moon goes round in an oval orbit so it can come very close to us, and if that coincides with a full moon, then it can look absolutely enormous," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
She explained that when the Moon was high in the sky, it looked normal.
But as it got closer to the horizon, a "kind of optical illusion" occurred where it looked bigger when compared with trees or houses, she said.
She suggested it might be possible to dispel the illusion by turning away from the Moon, bending over and looking at the sky from between your legs.
BBC Weather's Darren Bett said he was confident most people in the UK would be able to see the Moon at some point on Saturday night, but warned it might be fleeting.
Read more -- > BBC News - to light up night sky
Hope you all try this one 
The night sky is set to be illuminated later by what will appear to be a much bigger and brighter Moon.
The so-called "supermoon" occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to earth, known as a perigee full moon.
The effect is to make the Moon seem 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.
Skywatchers who miss the phenomenon this weekend because of cloudy skies will have to wait until August 2014 for the next one.
Space expert Heather Couper said "supermoons" were the result of coincidence.
"The Moon goes round in an oval orbit so it can come very close to us, and if that coincides with a full moon, then it can look absolutely enormous," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
She explained that when the Moon was high in the sky, it looked normal.
But as it got closer to the horizon, a "kind of optical illusion" occurred where it looked bigger when compared with trees or houses, she said.
She suggested it might be possible to dispel the illusion by turning away from the Moon, bending over and looking at the sky from between your legs.
BBC Weather's Darren Bett said he was confident most people in the UK would be able to see the Moon at some point on Saturday night, but warned it might be fleeting.
Read more -- > BBC News - to light up night sky
She suggested it might be possible to dispel the illusion by turning away from the Moon, bending over and looking at the sky from between your legs.
Comment