{"id":4522,"date":"2012-05-03T12:39:02","date_gmt":"2012-05-03T18:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/?p=4522"},"modified":"2012-05-07T16:52:05","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T22:52:05","slug":"supermoon-2012-and-troubles-continue-to-plague-californias-nuclear-plants-2-articles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/?p=4522","title":{"rendered":"Supermoon and Meteor Shower 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUPERMOON AND METEOR SHOWER THIS WEEKEND: <\/strong>Saturday, May 5th<\/sup>, will present a unique opportunity to observe both a \u2018supermoon\u2019 and the remnants of Halley\u2019s Comet in the form of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, May 5th<\/sup>, the biggest full moon of the year, known as a \u2018supermoon<\/a>,\u2019 will occur at 11:35 p.m. EDT (0335 May 6).\u00a0 Simultaneously, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower<\/a>, formed from remnants of Halley\u2019s Comet, will also be hitting its peak.<\/p>\n

A supermoon occurs when the moon comes into its fullest phase (full moon) while at the same time making its closest approach to Earth for the month, a term known as a perigee.\u00a0 This type of supermoon event is also known as a \u201csuper perigee moon.\u201d\u00a0 (see video from NASA @ http:\/\/www.space.com\/15037-super-moon-return-2012-video.html<\/a>) \u00a0The moon will come within 221,802 miles of Earth on Saturday, its closest approach in 2012, and may appear to be 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons of the year according to NASA.\u00a0 The moon will then reach its apogee, or farthest point from the Earth, on May 19th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The last time a supermoon occurred was on March 19, 2011, and at that time, it was the biggest and brightest in 18 years.<\/p>\n

The best time to view the supermoon will be in the early evening just as the moon is rising and close to the horizon.\u00a0 The optical illusion produced will make the moon appear remarkably larger.<\/p>\n

Although the moon may appear to be unusually close, scientists have stated that there is no need for alarm, and that the difference in distance occurring during this perigee will not be significant enough to cause major earthquakes or tidal events.\u00a0 The supermoon will, however, have an effect on both ocean tides and winds\u2014with the highest and lowest tides of the year expected as well as the possibility for increased winds.<\/p>\n

Occurring simultaneously during the supermoon is the Eta Aquarid meteor shower of 2012, which began on April 19th<\/sup> and will continue through May 28.\u00a0 The shower is expected to hit its peak during the overnight hours of Saturday, May 5, into Sunday, May 6.\u00a0 The Eta Aquarid shower is one of two meteor showers created by the remnants of Halley\u2019s Comet, the other being the Orionid meteor shower which occurs in October.\u00a0 The Eta Aquarid meteor shower occurs every April-May as the Earth passes through debris from Halley\u2019s Comet\u2019s 76-year orbit around our sun.<\/p>\n

Because the meteor shower will be happening at the same time as the supermoon, many smaller meteors may be more difficult to see.\u00a0 However, there will still be larger meteors which will be very bright that can be seen at the rate of several per hour.\u00a0 At its height, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower will produce as many as 60 meteors per hour, however, taking the bright light from the moon into account, \u201cforecasters estimate a maximum of 30+ visible meteors per hour<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although skywatchers in the southern hemisphere will have better viewing opportunities, the best time to look for meteors in the northern hemisphere is just before your local sunrise, with \u201cearthgrazers<\/a>\u201d being visible between 2:00 to 2:30 AM local time.\u00a0 \u00a0If you do plan on doing a bit of skywatching, be sure to dress for the occasion.\u00a0 The best strategy is to lie down on the ground and look slightly towards the eastern sky and be patient.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth the wait, and you\u2019ll probably get to see some amazing sights!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUPERMOON AND METEOR SHOWER THIS WEEKEND: Saturday, May 5th, will present a unique opportunity to observe both a \u2018supermoon\u2019 and the remnants of Halley\u2019s Comet in the form of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. On Saturday, May 5th, the biggest full moon of the year, known as a \u2018supermoon,\u2019 will occur at 11:35 p.m. EDT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-articles","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4522"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4548,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522\/revisions\/4548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}