The average distance between the Earth and the moon is 237,700 miles, however during some points of the year, the moon appears larger or smaller depending on where the moon is in its elliptical path. This is oval-shaped meaning that one side of the path is closer to the Earth than the other.
The moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical path. While this New Moon phase is the furthest from Earth in 2020, the furthest Full Moon this year takes place on 31 October, 252,379 miles (406,166km) from Earth.Ī micro moon happens when a full moon coincides with apogee, which is when the moon is at its furthest point in its orbit from the Earth. 'But – as it is a New Moon – it will not be observable at all for us on Earth, not with the naked eye, binoculars or telescopes.'ĭr Brown said the last time a New Moon was this far away from Earth was 14 March 2002, while it won’t be that far from Earth again until 20 November 2025 when it reaches 252,701 miles (406,683km) away.
'In the UK it will rise shortly after sunrise and set at the same time with the Sun, with actual New Moon setting in at 9:28 GMT. 'Sometimes these extremes occur close to Full or New Moon. 'While the Moon orbits Earth it comes as close as 357,000km and as far away as 407,000km from Earth,' said Daniel Brown, an astronomy expert at Nottingham Trent University. Micromoons are about 7 per cent smaller than an average Moon size, while supermoons are about 7 per cent larger.Īs Tuesday's micromoon is a New Moon, the side of the Moon facing the Earth is not illuminated be the Sun, making it invisible with or without a telescope or binoculars. The closest point in the orbit is called perigee – which creates an unusually large ‘supermoon’ – while its farthest point is called apogee, creating a micromoon.īecause a micromoon is further away, it looks around 14 per cent smaller than a supermoon, and as its illuminated area also appears 30 per cent smaller, so it tends to look less bright. The Moon orbits an elliptical path, which means one side is closer to the Earth than the other.
0 kommentar(er)
