lostonearth35
Veteran
Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,896
Location: On a planet where I don't belong.
21 Jun 2013, 2:24 pm
21 Jun 2013, 2:26 pm
21 Jun 2013, 5:18 pm
Kraichgauer
Veteran
Joined: 12 Apr 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 49,751
Location: Spokane area, Washington state.
21 Jun 2013, 10:49 pm
21 Jun 2013, 11:10 pm
NewDawn wrote:
The funny thing is that a 'supermoon' hasn't got anything to do with distance to Earth...
Actually, it does!
Quote:
The moon itself is the same size it's been for ages, but the key is how close it'll be when it's full. Because the moon's orbit around our planet is elliptical, its precise distance varies, depending on where it is in the orbit. This time around, the moon enters its full phase at 7:32 a.m. ET Sunday, only about a half-hour after it passes the point in its orbit nearest to Earth, which is known as perigee. As a result, this full moon will look about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than it does at the farthest point in its orbit.
Source: "Happy Supermoon! Celebrate lunar largeness as a planetary holiday"
Depending on who you ask, this event is supposed to either cause California to sink into the Pacific Ocean, shatter the Earth's crust and ignite all the volcanoes, make everyone of child-bearing age incredibly horny, flip the Earth's magnetic or geographic poles (or both), or announce the impending Biblical Apocalypse.
Stupid conspiricists ...
22 Jun 2013, 4:57 am
Fnord wrote:
Depending on who you ask, this event is supposed to either cause California to sink into the Pacific Ocean, shatter the Earth's crust and ignite all the volcanoes, make everyone of child-bearing age incredibly horny, flip the Earth's magnetic or geographic poles (or both), or announce the impending Biblical Apocalypse.
Stupid conspiricists ...
Stupid conspiricists ... I personally would not mind this. The part about hot women becoming incredibly horny, I mean. Maybe then I'd get laid for once...
22 Jun 2013, 5:49 am
Fnord wrote:
NewDawn wrote:
The funny thing is that a 'supermoon' hasn't got anything to do with distance to Earth...
Actually, it does!
Quote:
The moon itself is the same size it's been for ages, but the key is how close it'll be when it's full. Because the moon's orbit around our planet is elliptical, its precise distance varies, depending on where it is in the orbit. This time around, the moon enters its full phase at 7:32 a.m. ET Sunday, only about a half-hour after it passes the point in its orbit nearest to Earth, which is known as perigee. As a result, this full moon will look about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than it does at the farthest point in its orbit.
Source: "Happy Supermoon! Celebrate lunar largeness as a planetary holiday"
Depending on who you ask, this event is supposed to either cause California to sink into the Pacific Ocean, shatter the Earth's crust and ignite all the volcanoes, make everyone of child-bearing age incredibly horny, flip the Earth's magnetic or geographic poles (or both), or announce the impending Biblical Apocalypse.
Stupid conspiricists ... I'll take California sinking into the Pacific Ocean for $200, Alex.
23 Jun 2013, 9:01 am
23 Jun 2013, 12:38 pm
I'm feeling awfully frisky 
23 Jun 2013, 1:24 pm
Fnord wrote:
NewDawn wrote:
The funny thing is that a 'supermoon' hasn't got anything to do with distance to Earth...
Actually, it does!
Quote:
The moon itself is the same size it's been for ages, but the key is how close it'll be when it's full. Because the moon's orbit around our planet is elliptical, its precise distance varies, depending on where it is in the orbit. This time around, the moon enters its full phase at 7:32 a.m. ET Sunday, only about a half-hour after it passes the point in its orbit nearest to Earth, which is known as perigee. As a result, this full moon will look about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than it does at the farthest point in its orbit.
Source: "Happy Supermoon! Celebrate lunar largeness as a planetary holiday"
Depending on who you ask, this event is supposed to either cause California to sink into the Pacific Ocean, shatter the Earth's crust and ignite all the volcanoes, make everyone of child-bearing age incredibly horny, flip the Earth's magnetic or geographic poles (or both), or announce the impending Biblical Apocalypse.
Stupid conspiricists ... 23 Jun 2013, 3:22 pm
I wonder when the newspapers will come up with a "Super Sun" (around Januari) and if you want really spectacular differences in distance that you can;t see with the unaided eye: what about Super Mars and Super Venus?
OK, serious: Astronomers had never heard of 'super moons' until 2011. For reasons not well understood (perhaps a combination of athmospherical phenomena and psychological/optical illusion), every full moon close to the horizon looks bigger. An perigee moon is indeed 14% bigger, but I wonder if anyone buying the super moon media hype can see the difference when they look at the same 'super moon' at around 12 p.m. when it's at its heighest point in the sky.
You may now ask "why do hobbyist astronomers have to spoil cool events with boring explanations". 
23 Jun 2013, 4:59 pm
NewDawn wrote:
I wonder when the newspapers will come up with a "Super Sun" (around Januari) and if you want really spectacular differences in distance that you can;t see with the unaided eye: what about Super Mars and Super Venus?
OK, serious: Astronomers had never heard of 'super moons' until 2011. For reasons not well understood (perhaps a combination of athmospherical phenomena and psychological/optical illusion), every full moon close to the horizon looks bigger. An perigee moon is indeed 14% bigger, but I wonder if anyone buying the super moon media hype can see the difference when they look at the same 'super moon' at around 12 p.m. when it's at its heighest point in the sky.
You may now ask "why do hobbyist astronomers have to spoil cool events with boring explanations".
OK, serious: Astronomers had never heard of 'super moons' until 2011. For reasons not well understood (perhaps a combination of athmospherical phenomena and psychological/optical illusion), every full moon close to the horizon looks bigger. An perigee moon is indeed 14% bigger, but I wonder if anyone buying the super moon media hype can see the difference when they look at the same 'super moon' at around 12 p.m. when it's at its heighest point in the sky.
You may now ask "why do hobbyist astronomers have to spoil cool events with boring explanations".
You will see little blurbs about Venus closer or brighter in coming nights than usual. But never this kind of hype.
You have to be foolish to be 'spoiled' by predictions of all of these unlikely calamities. And its a total non-event anyway. So there is neither anything to spoil nor any reason for it to be spoiled.
Last edited by naturalplastic on 24 Jun 2013, 4:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
23 Jun 2013, 5:03 pm
23 Jun 2013, 6:12 pm
23 Jun 2013, 10:49 pm
23 Jun 2013, 10:52 pm
Well,the doomsday clock is ticking for me.There is a screech owl hollering right out side my bedroom window,not only a full moon,but the biggest full moon.I'm as good as gone.
