Keep an eye out for the “Full Beaver Moon” on November 15th, the last Supermoon of the year. The space “show” will begin at 10.30 pm, when the Moon will be full after its passage to perigee (i.e. at the minimum distance from Earth, 360,109 km from us, against an average distance of just over 384,000 km). Precisely for this reason our satellite will appear closer, larger and brighter than usual.
What is the Supermoon
This “overlap” between the full Moon and the passage to perigee is now popularly referred to as the “Supermoon”. The term, in itself, has no scientific value: in astronomy we prefer to speak of Full Moon at Perigee, but without a doubt the nickname Supermoon has a charm of its own. Both the Full Moon and the New Moon are considered Supermoons, as long as they occur with our satellite close to the minimum distance from the Earth. The Moon, in fact, describes a markedly elliptical orbit around our planet, therefore its distance from us is not constant, but varies between a minimum value (perigee) and a maximum value (apogee). Of course, the New Moon is not visible in the sky, so the only observable Supermoon is the full one (unless a solar eclipse occurs at the new Supermoon, as happened in March 2016).
In 2024 there will be nine Supermoons: four full and five new. The one on Friday 15 November will be the last of the year: “The next Supermoon will appear 5% larger and a little brighter than average, but only an expert observer could perhaps realize this – explained the astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project – These are far from sensational variations, which however add charm to the event, a precious opportunity to admire our natural satellite in the context of the night sky, an increasingly neglected landscape. and forgotten.” “What the Supermoon offers – added Masi – is a precious opportunity to invite people to recover, in general, awareness of the landscape of the sky among the general public, including in the city, which is notoriously unfavorable to seeing the stars due to light pollution” .
The “Full Beaver Moon” is coming
The “Full Beaver Moon”, which originates from the Native Americans’ habit of setting beaver traps at this time of year, will be a “guest” among the stars of Aries and Taurus on November 15th, constellations located in the northern half of the Zodiac. The event will be filmed live by the Virtual Telescope Project thanks to its instruments installed in Manciano, in the province of Grosseto, under the purest sky from light pollution in peninsular Italy. The appointment with the live streaming with commentary by Gianluca Masi is for Friday 15 November at 7.30 pm: to access the event, totally free, just connect to the Virtual Telescope Project website.
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