Chinanews.com Client, Beijing, March 12th (Reporter Shangguan Yun) A bright moon often entrusts people's beautiful wishes and thoughts. In recent times, topics related to "Super Moon" have been on the hot search many times, and astronomy lovers have chosen the appropriate time and place for observation, which is a feast for the eyes.
In fact, "Super Moon" is an astronomical phenomenon that everyone has paid more attention to in recent years. So, what is a "super moon"? When does it usually appear? How can people observe?
Conditions for the formation of a "super moon"
To form a "super moon", two basic conditions need to be met, one is "recent" and one is "roundest."
Data map: March 9th, the night of the 16th day of the lunar month, in Beijing, before the arrival of the "Super Moon", a full moon rises, reflecting the street lights of the community. Photo by Sun Zifa of China News Agency
"The moon's orbit around the earth is elliptical, with the closest apogee and the farthest point far from the earth," explains Yuan Fengfang, director of science popularization at the Xinglong Observation Base of the National Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
She said that "super moon" means that when the moon is full, it is just near the apogee. At this time, when the moon came to the perigee, it looked bigger than usual because it was close to the earth.
"February 19, 2019 is China's Lantern Festival, which happens to be the 'super moon'." Yuan Fengfang said, "The super full moon meets our traditional festivals, which is more ornamental and attracts public attention."
How to watch "Super Moon"?
To watch a super moon, strictly speaking, you can choose to observe when the moon-earth-sun order is closest to a straight line. To put it simply, on the day and night when the "super moon" appeared, any place can be observed as long as it is sunny or few clouds.
Data map: On the evening of March 10, "Super Moon" debuted in Beijing. Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
Yuan Fengfang introduced a set of data. At 10:35 am on April 8th, Beijing time, the moon, the earth, and the sun were almost in a straight line. At this time, the moon was the most round. At 2:08 am on April 8, Beijing time, the moon arrived Perigee.
She said that from the evening of April 7 to the morning of 8th, it was suitable for observation. One moon can be taken at 2:08 a.m. on April 8 and before sunrise.
"Actually, we can enjoy the 'super moon' with our eyes, and we can also use ordinary binoculars or monoculars, and even SLR plus telephoto lens to observe." Yuan Fengfang explained, "Super Moon" is a very ordinary astronomy Phenomenon, "We see the full moon every month, don't we?"
Appears no more than 4 times per year
Earlier, there were media reports that astronomy experts said that most of the "super moons" occurred on the fifteenth and sixteenth of the lunar calendar. The lunar rat will be staged 4 times on February 9th, March 10th, and April 8th. And May 7.
"The" super moon "is just a very common phenomenon. The cycle between the moon reaching the apogee takes 27.55 days, and the cycle between the two full moons is the new moon, which takes 29.27-29.83 days." Yuan Fengfang said.
There is a small time difference between the above two cycles. Yuan Fengfang said that it is precisely because of the difference in cycle length that there are no more than 4 "super moons" per year.
Data Map: "Super Moon" debuts in Beijing. Photo by China News Agency reporter Mao Jianjun
Interestingly, Yuan Fengfang mentioned that the apogee of the moon on April 8 was closer to the earth by about 500 kilometers than that of March 10. Therefore, the "Super Moon" on April 8 will be a little bigger (about 0.1%), but it is difficult to see the difference in size with the naked eye.
Interesting "Minimal Moon"
It is worth noting that there are not only "super moon" but also "minimum moon", some netizens jokingly call it "super little moon".
The so-called "minimum moon" means that when the moon is full, it just happens to be near the apogee.
"The only 'minimum moon' in 2020 will be on October 31." Yuan Fengfang suggested that those who are interested can use the same set of shooting equipment to take a picture of "super moon" and "minimum moon" and make In contrast, this is an astronomical observation that the general public can do. (Finish)