Saturday, March 19, 2011

Larger, brighter super moon tonight

MANILA, Philippines - The moon will be "larger" and "brighter" on Saturday, March 19, as the distance between the moon and the earth becomes nearer.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the moon will be 14% bigger and 30% brighter this weekend. It will be the biggest the moon has ever been in 20 years.

This will happen as the distance between the moon and the earth becomes smaller during perigee.

The phenomenon has been dubbed "super full moon" or "super moon" and superstitious people aired concerns this can be a sign of a coming disaster, such as an earthquake.

There is no truth to that belief, according to a local astronomer, Prof. Edmond Rosales.

"Walang kinalaman ang buwan sa lindol," he said.

In fact, he said, people won't even notice that the moon would seem bigger and brighter as the effect is negligible.

"Napaka-negligible para makita natin ang pagbabago...Kung hindi susukatin ang high tide, hindi natin mapapansin," he said.

As to the belief that people's behavior changes during full moon, Rosales said there is no truth to that too.

"Mas mabait pa nga ang tao 'pag buo ang buwan," he said, citing that because the moon is bright, there are less accidents and burglars do not want to go out for fear of being caught.

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