Tonight, instead of being glued to your TV sets, take some time out to look at the sky. A rare celestial spectacle will unfold on Saturday as the moon will be at its closest point to the earth. This rare phenomenon known as "Super moon" last occurred 18 years back.
According to Astronomers, on Saturday, the moon will be 3,56,577km away from the earth compared as compared to 3,64,000km. Professor TS Shukre, director, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium said the moon will be 14% bigger and 28% brighter compared to normal days.Professor Shukre also dismissed talk of the Supermoon phenomenon triggering any natural disaster as speculated by some. “There is nothing significant in the moon getting closer to the earth as it happens once every 28 days.
The only difference on Saturday is that such an incident is occurring on a full moon day, which is quite rare,” he said. Many astronomers have speculated that the Supermoon would set off natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.
A few have also cited the example of the January 10, 2005, Supermoon, when the moon was about 15km closer to earth.
Many said the moon’s then proximity was the cause of the December 24, 2004 undersea earthquake leading to the Asian tsunami which devastated countries on the rims of Indian and Pacific oceans, killing about two lakhs people.
Astronomers have also said the Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami was influenced by the Super moon which will occur on Saturday. This speculation, however, has been rejected.
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