On Tuesday we’ll see a Super Moon. The full moon then appears about 7% larger and 14% brighter than normal. In this article we explain what a giant moon is and whether the weather cooperates.
Weather helps the giant moon to be seen. The chance of qualifying is high on Tuesday. Veil clouds may also pass over our country and result in another special phenomenon: the giant moon aura! This is a circle around the giant moon.
The moon is already full on Tuesday at 5:33 am, but in the evening you will still see a full moon. Tuesday will be around 9:40 pm. To see the giant moon you have to look to the southeast. The giant moon is most beautiful during moonrise, when the full moon is low in the sky. The giant moon is visible from the house. The moon looks very big specifically among the buildings and trees!
You can read how many passes we get Belgium Weather.
The giant moon due to the shorter distance from the Earth
In a super moon, the full moon appears about 7% larger and 14% brighter than normal. The fact that the moon sometimes appears larger and brighter than usual is that the distance between the moon and the Earth is not always the same. Sometimes the moon is closer to Earth than at other times. The reason for this is that the moon does not have a circular orbit, but rather an elliptical (elliptical) orbit around the Earth.
Photo: Angeline de Vogel
On average, the distance between the Moon and Earth is 384,000 km. In the giant moon, the moon is about 357,000 kilometers away from us. This offers about 27,000 km, or 26 flights from Brussels to Montpellier.
The giant moon occurs several times a year. Super moons always succeed each other because the moon is close to Earth for half the year and farther away for the other half of the year. In May of this year, we will see a similar giant moon.
Optical error and illusion
The giant moon appears larger at moonrise and moonset. The fact that the moon appears larger when it rises or sets is due to an optical illusion. When the moon is low on the horizon, the moon shines through the trees, among the buildings and other objects. Our brains want to compare an image of the moon to all of these other things. In fact, the moon is so distant that our brains make the moon appear so big. We see the same effect at sunrise and sunset. Even so, the sun appears much larger than when it is high in the sky.
Main photo: Marine Alons
