NEW YORK (GaeaTimes.com) — The biggest and brightest full moon of 2010 will be seen tonight. With a clear sky above, it brings you the opportunity to identify some features on the supersize moon.
Full moon of every month has a special name. January’s full moon is called ‘Wolf Moon’. According to Native American tradition the name is given after the wolves howling in the cold midwinter.
The 2010 wolf moon will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than any other full moon this year, because our cosmic neighbor will actually be closer to Earth than usual.
The moon is approximately, 238,855 miles (384,400 km) from Earth. The moon’s orbit around Earth which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles (50,000 km) closer than the other.
In each orbit, the moon reaches the closest point to us, AKA perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will occur tonight. So, the moon will appear bigger and brighter than any other full moons of the year.
A full moon at perigee brings higher ocean tides. Many people think full moons cause strange behavior among animals and even humans. But different studies over the years haven’t find any relevance to such illusions.
The full moon occurs when the sun, Earth and the moon are all lined up, almost. If they’re perfectly aligned, Earth casts a shadow on the moon and there’s a total lunar eclipse. So during what we call a full moon, the moon’s face is actually slightly less than 100 percent illuminated. So, literally speaking, there is nothing such thing called full moon.
Title: Wolf Moon to be Seen Tonight
Duration: 0:00
Submited by: moviebuzz
Category: Actors News
Added on: February 2nd, 2010
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