From: SFPhysics@aol.com
Date: Tue Dec 14 1999 - 10:58:27 PST
From: SFPhysics@aol.com Message-ID: <0.ce94462c.2587ed53@aol.com> Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 13:58:27 EST Subject: Brightest Moon in 133 Years!
I hope this explanation is clear enough:
The earth's orbit is not round nor is the orbit of the moon around the earth.
Both are parabolic (egg shaped). The high point is the apogee and the low
point is the perigee. This year the earth and its moon will be the closest
to the sun on December 22, the winter solstice. The moon will be the closest
to earth on that same day. !Both the suns orbit and the moons orbit will be
at their perigee on the same day! This happens once every 133 years and I so
much enjoyed the last one that I look forward to seeing this one (yes, my
students did ask how I liked the last one). ;-) So, the moon will be 7%
larger than when viewed at it's farthest from earth and both will be several
million miles closer to the sun. The result is that the moon will be getting
more light (inverse square law) and it will be closer to the earth (inverse
square law again) and thus it will reflect that much more light on the
planet. I am hoping for a clear night and will stand out in the Marin
hinterlands on a hill top surrounded by cows to watch the moonrise, if the
weather permits. For astronomy buffs and those of us who see God in the
heavens it will be truly spectacular!
Happy Holidays to All,
Al Sefl
"Physics is the study of how God put the universe together, wound it up, and
made it tick!" A. Sefl
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