Supermoon is About to Coincide with the Geminid Meteor Shower
- Dec 12, 2016
- 1 min read
December's Supermoon will occur on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
The Moon will reach peak fullness at 7:05 p.m. EST (00:05 GMT on Dec,14). This marks the third Supermmon in a row after Supermoons in October and November.
The term "Supermoon" is used to describe a full Moon when it is closest to Earth. That causes the Moon to appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter in the sky.
December's full Moon is also known as the Full Cold Moon and the Long Nights Moon in the Northern Hemisphere. http://www.space.com/34515-supermoon-guide.html
The December Supermoon or what astronomers call as the waxing gibbous moon, where the moon is at its closest to Earth with only 222,738 miles distance.
Still on Dec. 13, the bright orange star Alderaban can be seen beside the Supermoon, which partly eclipses the star at 11:13 pm ET. Alderaban is part of the constellation of Taurus, the bull, and may be visible in North America and Western Europe. http://www.universityherald.com/articles/54345/20161209/look-up-december-2016-sky-presents-supermoon-meteor-showers-solstice.htm
The annual Geminid meteor show also occurs on Dec. 13, but may be obstructed by the bright glare of the Supermoon. Nonetheless, meteor watchers may still see the visible stars of the shower, which at its peak may have 60 to 120 shooting stars per hour.
The Beehive group of stars appears with the Supermoon on Dec. 16. The cluster can be seen in the constellation of Cancer, the crab, and was first mentioned by Aratos, the ancient Greek poet as far back as 260 B.C. according to National Geographics. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/skywatching-sky-guide-december-supermoon-meteors-space-astronomy/
Beehive Cluster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_Cluster
Clips, images credit: ESO, ESA/HUBBLE & NASA/JPL
Music credit: YouTube Audio Library
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