Supermoon tonight....
The world is set to experience the biggest full moon for almost two decades when the satellite reaches its closest point to Earth.
On 19 March, the full moon will appear unusually large in the night sky as it reaches a point in its cycle known as 'lunar perigee'.
Stargazers will be treated to a spectacular view when the moon approaches Earth at a distance of 221,567 miles in its elliptical orbit - the closest it will have passed to our planet since 1992.
The full moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter in the sky, especially when it rises on the eastern horizon at sunset or is provided with the right atmospheric conditions.
This phenomenon has reportedly heightened concerns about 'supermoons' being linked to extreme weather events - such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. The last time the moon passed close to the Earth was on 10 January 2005, around the time of the Indonesian earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was also associated with an unusually large full moon.
Previous supermoons occurred in 1955, 1974 and 1992 - each of these years experienced extreme weather events, killing thousands of people.
However, an expert speaking to Yahoo! News today believes that a larger moon causing weather chaos is a popular misconception.
Dr Tim O'Brien, a researcher at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, said: "The dangers are really overplayed. You do get a bit higher than average tides than usual along coastlines as a result of the moon's gravitational pull, but nothing so significant that will cause a serious climatic disaster or anything for people to worry about."
But according to Dr Victor Gostin, a Planetary and Environmental Geoscientist at Adelaide University, there may be a link between large-scale earthquakes in places around the equator and new and full moon situations.
He said: "This is because the Earth-tides (analogous to ocean tides) may be the final trigger that sets off the earthquake."
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Just thort id share this lil article i received,
BUT besides all of this does anyone have any info on the spiritual significance of this supermoon? or any other related info they would like to share?
Love and Light :)
Replies
I remember the supermoom of 1992. We had driven down to see Yosemite in the morning and it turned into quite an adventure as we ended up driving from South Lake Tahoe to Bishop where we turned around after brunch and drove to Yosemite, where the mosquitos were at their thickest and we turned around and left for Tahoe. We got part of the way up 395 and took the turn off to Bodie Ca... that great ghost town. We got up on a ridge where the road forked and turned to gravel and we parked up there as this huge red moon came up on the horizon. Talk about feeling insignificant... it was the most beautiful moon that we both had ever seen and being in the middle of nowhere made it an exciting and awesome trip to remember. Looking forward to this.
Namaste
So is this the 19th US or Australian?
It doesn't matter, it's been overcast, wet and cloudy here all week, and today is no different, so I won't get to see it, or photograph it.
What a disappointment, I only have about 1000+ photos of the moon, through my telescope and just using high zoom on the camera.
Kel: i have been feeling this way too, not myself at all and going thru some very big changes within my self and my life, like going thru a stage of cleansing, my baby has been all out of sorts too lately and wont sleep and having troubles with everything he was especially out of sorts the day the tsunami hit Japan, tho this is not the first time that our emotions and behaviours have corresponded with natural distasters ... so for me i know my current state its reacting and mirroring that of our Earths... we are one. As for the moon, i felt i was recharged and empowered by her, we exchanged blessings and thismorning i must day i feel amazing and renewed!
wish i got pics to share now, but i was too stunned by her beaming aura to think about taking photos :)