Because the orbit of the moon around the earth is elliptical, the distance between the moon and the earth is not constant. The average distance between the moon and the earth is about 384,000 kilometers, the nearest is about 356,000 kilometers, and the farthest is about 406,000 kilometers. The size of the moon in the eyes of the public will be different with different distances.
According to astronomers' calculations, in March of 19, the moon reached perigee, only 3524 19000 kilometers away from the earth (usually the average distance is 380,000 kilometers). In this way, although the actual size of the moon has not changed, the result of observation with precision instruments is that the moon does look bigger. The size of the moon observed at night will reach 1.08 times the usual size, but it is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. In addition, it happened to be the fifteenth day of the second lunar month, which was a full moon with high brightness.
Historically, such "super moons" occurred in 1955, 1974 and 1992.
How do non-professional observers appreciate the biggest moon? At 8 o'clock in the evening, the moon is in the southeast 15 degree sky. At this time, it has risen to a height of 23 degrees, which is difficult for ordinary high-rise buildings to cover. At this time, the best observation time will be entered. At 8: 23 that night, the moon reached the southeastern sky, and at 0: 26 the next day, the moon reached the southern sky and its height rose to the highest point. When the moon is bright, if you are still awake, you can go outside and watch the special moonlight.
Zhao Zhi Heng, an expert in astronomy education in China and director of Tianjin Astronomical Society, said that according to accurate astronomical calculations, on March 20th, the earth was running between the moon and the sun at 2: 10. At this time, the moon just "faces" the sun, and it reflects all the rays of the sun to the earth, so it is "the most round"; At about 3 o'clock, the moon moves to the nearest position to the earth. At this time, the earth of distance to the moon is about 356,000 kilometers, which is more than 50,000 kilometers closer than the farthest distance of the earth. So, from the earth, the moon is bigger than usual. "In fact, it is difficult for human eyes to distinguish the largest and smallest full moons."
"I turned around in the sky before I came out, and all the surnames in the world looked up." As the biggest and roundest moon this year, we can't miss it, but Zhao Zhi Heng stressed that it is not necessary for the public to deliberately pursue the "biggest and roundest" moon in the early morning of 20th, and they can enjoy it on the evening of 19. At that time, as long as the weather is fine, a full moon will appear in the night sky as scheduled, and the beads are round and jade-like, crystal clear. If it is cloudy, there will be clouds passing by during the full moon, forming a beautiful picture of "chasing the moon with colorful clouds", which is extremely romantic.
Saturn's rings and arcturus can be seen that night.
If it is not enough to look at the moon, if other "stars" join us that night, the observer will not be disappointed. On March 19, Saturn is at the lower left of the moon. Astronomers can find it according to Professor Xu Shaofei's method. At night 10: 30, facing the moon, you will find Saturn at the lower left of the moon, only one hand away. If you observe with an astronomical telescope, you can see the magical halo around Saturn, like a big straw hat.
After finding Saturn, the field of vision moved to the left and turned to the east. At a distance of two slaps from Saturn, you can see a star brighter than Saturn. It is a star called arcturus. It is a "famous star" and the second bright star that Shanxi can see.
Looking at the moon with the naked eye, the public can see that some places on the surface of the moon are brighter and some places are darker. This pattern of alternating light and shade gives people rich imagination space. Conditional public can not only see the crater clearly, but also find the Hongwan area, which is the landing site of China's "Chang 'e III" lunar exploration satellite in 20 13.
17 At 6: 00 am on March 20th, the "Super Moon" landed slowly from the western hills. It is worth mentioning that the full moon just reached the top of Xishan Mountain in Taiyuan from 5: 50 am to 6: 00 am on the 20th. At that time, there will be a beautiful full moon hanging on the top of the mountain in the sky, which is very beautiful.
It is understood that every time you experience 14 full moons (that is, astronomical 14 "full moons", that is, 4 13.4 days), the moon will reach the maximum and roundest "perfect" state.