Supermoon: After 68 years, watch it today

November 14, 2016

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November 14, 2016 is going to be a special day for the Earth-Moon relationship. It is because, there’s going to be an extra special ‘Supermoon’.

The last supermoon India witnessed was on January 26th 1948, which is 68 years ago. If you miss to watch today’s moon, you will have to wait for it until November 25th 2034 again.

What is a Supermoon?

Supermoon is an indication to say that Moon’s distance from Earth is constantly changing. The moon’s orbit is elliptical and not circle, which means it is closer at some point, and then farther away a few weeks later. 

Adding to it, the Moon goes through phases – from new moon all the way to full moon – depending on the amount of light it receives from the Sun and its position. When Perigee (scientific term for closest approach) and full moon happen at the same time, we get a supermoon.

There are several prevalent definitions for a supermoon. A few opine that, it occurs when the satellite’s centre is less than 360000 kilometres (about 223,694 miles) from Earth’s centre. The average distance, by comparison, is 384,400 km (about 238,855 miles). By that logic, supermoons tend to happen every month or so.

Others also put it differently- the time when the Moon is closest to Earth in its full moon cycle, a period of roughly 14 months. Going by that, we get a supermoon about once in a year.

The current Supermoon falls in the 14th month category. The Moon’s distance from Earth is going to be 356,509 km (about 221,524 miles), a bit more than it was in 1948 (356,461 km).

Today’s moon, according to NASA, will be 14% wider and 30% brighter than it is at apogee (scientific name for farthest from the earth). Scientists call this effect the Moon illusion.

November 14 supermoon time in India, US East Coast, West Coast, and elsewhere:

According to NASA, the Moon will be at perigee at 6:22am EST for those in the US. That equates to 4:52pm IST in India, but it won’t be visible then as moonrise isn’t until sometime later around the country.

Here are the times for a few of the places around the world:

New Delhi, India: perigee at 4:52pm, moonrise at 5:37pm

West Coast, USA (Los Angeles): perigee at 3:22am, moonrise at 5:29pm

East Cost, USA (New York): perigee at 6:22am, moonrise at 5:14pm

Beijing, China: perigee at 7:22pm, moonrise at 5:09pm

Berlin, Germany: perigee at 12:22pm, moonrise at 4:46pm

Sydney, Australia: perigee at 10:22pm, moonrise at 7:07pm

London, UK: perigee at 11:22am, moonrise at 4:44pm

Istanbul, Turkey: perigee at 2:22pm, moonrise at 6:08pm

Moscow, Russia: perigee at 2:22pm, moonrise at 4:56pm

Others:

If your place is not listed above, look east during the twilight hours to spot the supermoon at its best time. 

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