Super moon 2012: the full moon of 2012 didn’t cause Armageddon

Super moon 2012 is finally here. But notwithstanding many claims, the full moon of 2012 didn’t cause Armageddon says Abdul Vahid V of NVONews.Com

People in several parts of the world have already sighted the much-awaited super moon 2012. In Asia and many other areas, people have witnessed the biggest and brightest full moon of 2012 on Saturday night. In many other parts of the world including the North America, stargazers are eagerly waiting for the super moon. It is the time the moon comes closest to the earth on its orbit. Stargazers are quite excited about the event, which will show the moon 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons this year.

Pakistan’s Daily Times reports that people in the country have witnessed the full moon on Saturday night with great excitement. Enthusiasts gathered in streets, river banks and terrace tops to have a gaze at the year’s fullest moon in Lahore and other cities. “A number of people witnessed Saturday night’s ‘super moon’, which was bigger and brighter than usual, with their friends, family members and loved ones,” says the newspaper.

What is Super Moon?
NASA says that super moon happens when the moon comes slightly closer to the earth than the regular situations. The super moon is noticeable as it reaches the nearest side of the earth as a full moon. The scientific term for the occurrence is “perigee moon.” It is because the closest side of the moon’s orbit (50,000 kms) is named so, when the distant side is called ‘apogee.’ Well, the super moon occurs when the moon hits the closest side. In other words, it happens when the moon is on the perigee side of the Moon’s orbit.

“Such is the case on May 5th at 11:34 pm Eastern Daylight Time when the Moon reaches perigee.  Only one minute later, the Moon will line up with Earth and the sun to become brilliantly full.  The timing is almost perfect,” says NASA on its web site. The time of super moon will naturally vary for each geographical location across the world. Anyway, it is the best time for you to watch the moon in its full light and brightness this year. Since the phenomenon happens only once a year, you will have to wait for next year to have a view of the super moon if you miss it this time around.

According to NASA, super moon will bring some changes in the nature; it is normal because moon is that much related to the climate of earth. “For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects,” NASA says. Dogs will bark long and seas will rise up as the moon comes closer to the earth.

Superstitions
Of course, like any other natural phenomena, the super moon is also attached with many superstitions and folklores. There is a big sect of people, who think that super moon will cause many tragedies on earth. “Folklore holds that all kinds of wacky things happen under the light of a full moon.  Supposedly, hospital admissions increase, the crime rate ticks upward, and people behave strangely. The idea that the full Moon causes mental disorders was widespread in the Middle Ages,” NASA says. Well, across the world people have many fabulous explanations to the super moon.

Anyway, many recent natural calamities are connected with the super moon. Extreme weather, volcanic eruptions and natural tragedies took place following super moon in the years of 1955, 1974, 1992, 2005 and 2011. It is thought that the 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia took place near to 2005’s super moon sighting. Last year, in Japan a terrific earth quake and follow-on tsunami happened nine days before the super moon. However, scientists have given no explanation for connection between the natural calamities and super moon.

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Posted by admin on May 6, 2012. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry