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Extra Bright Full Moon to Occur December 1999?
THE OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC PREDICTS:
This year the full moon will occur on the Winter Soltice (December 22nd) called the first day of winter. Since the full moon on the winter solstice will occur in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth) The moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's elliptical orbit that is farthest from the Earth). Since the Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun at this time of the year than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7% stronger making it brighter. Also, this will be the closest perigee of the Moon of the year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming. If the weather is clear and there is a snow cover where you live, it is believed that car headlights will be superfluous.
In laymen's terms, it will be a super bright full moon, much more than the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years!
Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendants 100 or so years from now will see this again. Remember this will happen December 22, 1999.
SKY & TELESCOPE RESPONSE: Brightest Moon in 133 Years?
According to Roger W. Sinnott, associate editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, the answer is unequivocal: No!
It is true that there is a most unusual coincidence of
events this year. As S&T contributing editor Fred Schaaf points out
in the December 1999 issue of Sky & Telescope, "The Moon reaches its
very closest point all year on the morning of December 22nd. That's only
a few hours after the December solstice and a few hours before full Moon.
Ocean tides will be exceptionally high and low that day." But to have
these three events -- lunar perigee, solstice, and full Moon -- occur
on nearly the same day is not especially rare. The situation was rather
similar in December 1991 and December 1980, as the following dates and
Universal Times show:
|
Event |
Dec. 1999 | Dec. 1991 | Dec. 1980 |
| Full Moon | 22, 18h | 21, 10h | 21, 18h |
| Perigee | 22, 11h | 22, 9h | 19, 5h |
| Solstice | 22, 8h | 22, 9h | 21, 17h |
What is really rare is that in 1999 the three events take place in such quick succession. On only two other occasions in modern history have the full Moon, lunar perigee, and December solstice coincided within a 24-hour interval, coming just 23 hours apart in 1991 (as indicated in the preceding table) and 20 hours apart back in 1866. The 10-hour spread on December 22, 1999, is unmatched at any time in the last century and a half.
So is it really true, as numerous faxes and e-mails to Sky & Telescope have claimed, that the Moon will be brighter this December 22nd than at any time in the last 133 years? We have researched the actual perigee distances of the Moon throughout the years 1800-2100, and here are some perigees of "record closeness" that also occurred at the time of full Moon:
|
Date |
Distance (km) |
| 1866 Dec. 21 |
357,289 |
| 1893 Dec. 23 |
356,396 |
| 1912 Jan. 4 |
356,375 |
| 1930 Jan. 15 |
356,397 |
| 1999 Dec. 22 |
356,654 |
| 2052 Dec. 6 |
356,421 |
It turns out, then, that the Moon comes closer to Earth in the years 1893, 1912, 1930, and 2052 than it does in either 1866 or 1999. The difference in brightness will be exceedingly slight. But if you want to get technical about it, the full Moon must have been a little brighter in 1893, 1912, and 1930 than in either 1866 or 1999 (based on the calculated distances).
The 1912 event is undoubtedly the real winner, because it happened on the very day the Earth was closest to the Sun that year. However, according to a calculation by Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus, the full Moon on January 4, 1912, was only 0.24 magnitude (about 25 percent) brighter than an "average" full Moon.
In any case, these are issues only for the astronomical record books. This month's full Moon won't look dramatically brighter than normal. Most people won't notice a thing, despite the e-mail chain letter that implies we'll see something amazing.
Our data are from the U.S. Naval Observatory's ICE computer program, Jean Meeus's Astronomical Algorithms, page 332, and the August 1981 issue of Sky & Telescope, page 110.
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This page is maintained by Matt Ganis for the Astronomical League. Comments, corrections, and suggestions can be addressed to webmaster@astroleague.org. This page last updated January 1, 2000.
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