Get to Know the November Super Moon

Paul Tucker
Staff Writer

Yup it’s that time of the year again. The moon has reached its full phase at the closest point to Earth along the satellite’s elliptical orbit, causing it to look bigger and brighter than usual.

Wait, what? You’re telling me this doesn’t happen every year?

The moon has not been this bright since 1948! You know how much life has changed since 1948? A gallon of gas cost 16 cents. Scrabble and the Polaroid were introduced in 1948. Sri Lanka gained its independence in 1948. History was made! Alright — enough Sri Lankan fun facts, and back to the super moon.

The super moon was 15 percent bigger and 16 percent brighter than an average moon. The super moon was also named the “Beaver moon” due to its occurrence coinciding with American settlers trapping beavers for the upcoming winter. The tides are affected by this rarity as well. On Nov. 14, the tides, on average, rose two inches, but in places such as Alaska, they moved up a whopping six inches.

So, some of you may be reading this and are thinking, “Damn I wish I had seen that, I can’t believe I missed it.” Do not fret, coming soon to the sky near you is another super moon on Dec. 14. There was also a super moon in October. Full moons occur when the sun, Earth and moon are nearly all in a line, with Earth in the middle. A perfect alignment happens ever so often, and the result is a total lunar eclipse. No total lunar eclipses will be happening in 2017. However, scientists are predicting a total or partial solar eclipse in August 2017.

Hailey’s comet occurs about every 75 years. Is a super moon just as rare? Despite its mystique, a super moon is not a once in a lifetime occurrence. Every few years there are “super moons.” You should definitely check it out, but if you were busy let’s say doing homework, or studying, or, god forbid, sleeping, have no fear; the super moon shall return to your world soon. Despite its elevated size and brightness, the super moon will not look any different to an astronomer. In fact, the super moon will make it more difficult to examine the craters, and other rigid characteristics of our lunar body.

Dec. 6, 2052. Mark your calendars. Cancel your plans. The closest super moon of the century will be occurring on this date. I have said that super moons are not super rare, and they occur often enough, that missing one will not be the end of the world. But if you’re going to see one super moon, you might as well see the one that is the most “super.” The super moon has left our world for the present time, but shall be coming back for a brief appearance in December. Well that’s the end of this article, would you like to know one more super, interesting fact? Cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka, but volleyball is actually the national sport.