Fed2 Star - the newsletter for the space trading game Federation 2

The weekly newsletter for Fed2
by ibgames

EARTHDATE: November 13, 2016

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EXTRA-SUPERMOON TOMORROW

by Hazed

The moon is going to look bigger than it normally does tomorrow (Monday) night. That’s because it’s going to be a bit closer to the Earth. In fact, it will be at its closest all year, making it not just a supermoon, but an extra-supermoon.

The moon’s orbit around the Earth is not circular, it is an ellipse, which means that it moves closer and further away from the planet. A supermoon is when the new or full moon coincides with the moon being at its closest to the Earth. On Monday we will see a full moon, and at the same time the satellite will reach its perigee, the point of its orbit closest to Earth. It’s extra-super because it’s the closest for all of 2016.

The moon will be just 221,524 miles away. When it furthest away it is at a distance of 252,276.

This is the last chance to see an extra-supermoon until 2034, so better hope for a cloudless night.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/08/extrasupermoon_november_14_2016/
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/10/the-science-of-supermoons-the-lunar-lowdown-on-the-biggest-and-brightest-in-60-years
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161113.html

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