By Angus Dalton
The biggest and brightest moon of the year will rise on Wednesday evening, and the cosmic show will rely on an interplay between celestial orbits, physics and a quirk of the human brain.
November’s full moon is dubbed the “Beaver moon” and marks the time of year when the celestial body swings closest to Earth. It’s the second event in a run of three consecutive supermoons.
“Some people do think they’re going a little crazy sometimes when they look up and they see an exceptionally big full moon,” Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Sara Webb said.
Crowds gather at North Bondi’s Ben Buckler Point to watch the Beaver supermoon rise on Wednesday night. Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
“It’s most likely a super full moon, and it means that it’s just a little bit closer to the earth than normal, and they are really spectacular.”
The moon’s orbit is an oval, rather than a perfect circle, so there are times that it is closer to us and appears larger. Its furthest point from Earth is called the apogee, 405,500 kilometres away, according to NASA.
During its nearest point, the perigee, the moon is about 42,000 kilometres closer (a distance similar to the Earth’s circumference).
When the moon comes within at least 90 per cent of this perigee, it’s dubbed a supermoon.
Supermoons come in batches. The Beaver moon is the second in a run of three between October’s Harvest Supermoon and the third and final supermoon in December.
But Wednesday night’s Beaver moon will be the best of them.
Supermoons appear modestly larger than the smallest full moons – about 14 per cent bigger – but amp up the brightness by about a third.
The best time to see it
One of the best times to soak up the full impact of Beaver moon will be just after sunset looking east as it rises. The sun will set about 7.30pm in Sydney and 8pm in Melbourne.
Nicknames for each month’s full moon
- January: Wolf moon
- February: Snow moon
- March: Worm moon
- April: Pink
- May: Flower
- June: Strawberry
- July: Buck
- August: Sturgeon
- September: Corn
- October: Hunter’s
- November: Beaver
- December: Cold
“The moon typically always looks bigger on the horizon, and it’s mainly because of our brains. Our brains tend to associate things that are on the horizon with things that we can see, so trees or buildings or cars,” Webb said.
Seeing the moon right beside these earthly objects may goad our brains into perceiving the moon as closer than it really is.
“That’s why, to us, the moon looks bigger when it’s on the horizon compared to when you’re looking at it overhead. It’s just a trick of the mind.”
The moon looks bigger on the horizon thanks to a trick of the mind.Credit: Getty
The origin of the Beaver moon’s name is contested, but one theory stems from the idea beavers begin building their dams in the US at this time of year before the ground freezes.
The Beaver moon coincides with two meteor showers. The Orions, offcuts from the tail of Halley’s Comet, are just wrapping up their annual show, and the Leonids are just firing up. Webb said it’s a great time to step outside.
“You might be trying to spot that supermoon, and you might also get to see some shooting stars. It’s a good time to look up.”
Flying foxes in front of October’s supermoon, the first in a run of three.Credit: Eddie Jim
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
