This year's first "super moon" will appear in the night sky in the early morning of August 20. Interested members of the public in my country can look up to the sky in the evening of the 19th to appreciate this "fat moon".
On August 30, 2023, the "Super Moon" rose over the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Marios Roros)
When the moon and the sun are on both sides of the earth, and the ecliptic longitudes of the moon and the sun are 180 degrees different, the moon seen on the earth is the roundest and is called a "full moon". Also known as "hope". The fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth or even seventeenth days of each month in the lunar calendar are all times when the full moon may appear.
This is the "super moon" photographed in Lhasa, Tibet on March 10, 2020. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Pubu Tashi)
Xiu Lipeng, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and an expert in astronomical science popularization, said that the moon’s orbit around the earth is an ellipse. Sometimes the moon is close to the earth, and sometimes it is far away from the earth. The point closest to the earth is called It is the perigee, otherwise it is called the apogee. From an astronomical point of view, a "super moon" can simply be called a "perigee full moon", that is, the full moon happens to appear near perigee. At this time, the moon looks particularly large. In this "super moon", the full moon moment occurred at 2:26 on the 20th, and the moon's perigee moment occurred at 13:00 on the 21st.
This is the "super moon" photographed in Beijing on April 8, 2020. (Photo by starry sky photographer Wang Junfeng)
"Super Moon" is not a rare celestial phenomenon, occurring as few as once or twice a year, and as many as three or four times a year. "There will be four 'super moons' this year and they will appear one after another. The next three will appear on September 18, October 17 and November 16 respectively. Among them, the 'super moon' on September 18 is The biggest full moon of the year," Xiu Lipeng said.
This is the "super moon" in the night sky of Sydney, Australia, taken on April 27, 2021. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xuefei)
How to appreciate this year's first "super moon"? "Since the full moon occurs in the early morning, interested members of the public can observe it on the evening of the 19th. At this time, the moon has just risen from the east. Due to the ground reference, it will appear larger to the naked eye, and the color of the full moon is slightly reddish; When the moon rises to a certain height, it is difficult to distinguish this difference with the naked eye, and the color of the moon will gradually turn white or white-yellow. You don’t need professional astronomical equipment to appreciate the full moon, just like watching the meteor shower, of course. "If you use a small astronomical telescope, you can observe the bright and dark details on the moon more clearly," Xiu Lipeng said.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
