DETROIT – Every once in a while, you'll hear me talk about an upcoming Super Moon. What makes a moon so super? Well, you probably know that the moon orbits the Earth, but what you might not know is that the moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular.
Sometimes the moon's orbit brings it a little closer to us, and sometimes it’s a little farther away. When its closest point of the year coincides with a full moon, then we call it a Super Moon. Well, somebody started calling it a Super Moon.
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Many people are interested, because Super Moons are a little bigger in the sky since the moon is closer to the earth. If you want to sound really scientific, tell your friends it’s called a Perigee Moon. If anybody asks what a full moon is called when it’s farthest away, that’s an Apogee Moon.
Why is Sunday’s or Monday’s Super Moon extra super? It will be the largest and brightest full moon since 1948.
The next moon this bright won’t be until November 2034. Yes, there will be other Super Moons between now and then, but everybody will be talking about this one, so I thought I’d let you know now what all the fuss is about.
Do Super Moons have any effect on the Earth? Actually, yes. Our planet’s tides are caused by the moon’s gravity, so the closer the moon is to us, the stronger the gravitational pull is and the larger the swing in tidal heights.
One final morsel of trivia: Super Moons happen in roughly 13-month cycles -- specifically, it’s every one year, one month and 18 days -- so the next one will be on Jan. 2, 2018.
Hope for some open sky Sunday and Monday so you can see what everybody’s talking about.
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