On Saturday … Closest new moon in 1,337 years

[Disir]

Closest new moon since the Middle Ages​

According to our calculations, on January 21, 2023, the new moon will be at its closest distance to Earth for the last 992 years. The next time the new moon is this close to Earth will be 345 years from now, making this the closest new moon in 1,337 years.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle. Instead, it has an elliptical shape, like a slightly stretched circle. This means the distance between the moon and Earth changes over the course of a month. The point on the moon’s orbit that is closest to Earth is perigee; the farthest point is apogee.

If perigee or apogee coincides with a new moon or full moon – when the Earth, moon and sun are in alignment – the moon’s closest and farthest distances become more extreme. This leads to the phenomena of supermoons and micromoons, where the moon is particularly near or far away.

| EarthSky

earthsky.org

This is pretty cool. Actually, the sky is going to be quite active this weekend starting tomorrow.

 

[Damaged Eagle]

*****SMILE*****

 

[JGalt]

Cool! I'm going to shoot at it Saturday and see if I can knock it out of the sky.

 

[theHawk]

Too bad we won’t be able to see it. LOL.

 

[Godboy]

Closest new moon since the Middle Ages​

According to our calculations, on January 21, 2023, the new moon will be at its closest distance to Earth for the last 992 years. The next time the new moon is this close to Earth will be 345 years from now, making this the closest new moon in 1,337 years.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle. Instead, it has an elliptical shape, like a slightly stretched circle. This means the distance between the moon and Earth changes over the course of a month. The point on the moon’s orbit that is closest to Earth is perigee; the farthest point is apogee.

If perigee or apogee coincides with a new moon or full moon – when the Earth, moon and sun are in alignment – the moon’s closest and farthest distances become more extreme. This leads to the phenomena of supermoons and micromoons, where the moon is particularly near or far away.

| EarthSky

earthsky.org

This is pretty cool. Actually, the sky is going to be quite active this weekend starting tomorrow.

Im gonna chuck a rock at it if it gets close enough.

 

[1srelluc]