| On March 19 our natural satellite the moon will come closer to the Earth.
The Moon's orbit is slightly elongated and resembles an ellipse. Therefore, our natural satellite is coming closer to us by 363300 km and then moving away by 405500 km.
On March 19, 2011, the moon will be at its closest to Earth in the last 19 years. The moon was at the same distance in 1992. A little further away, but still the moon was close enough in 1955, 1974 and 2005.
Panic-mongers recall that catastrophic earthquake that rocked the South-East Asia followed by the dreadful Tsunami in the end of 2004 when the moon was on its way to the next minimum (only two weeks before it). And in 1974, cyclone Tracy destroyed the Australian city of Darwin at Christmas. Consequently, even now, we must expect some serious unpleasant things.
Astronomers assured us that nothing will happen. Does the moon coming closer to Earth cause strong high and low tides or much stronger than the usual tides? It will act on the ocean with a growing force - according to law of universal gravitation. But, it is doubtful whether the same increased (by reducing the distance between the objects) force will have a noticeable effect on the subsoil. Will it disturb them so much that they become enraged?
By mystic terminology, it turned into a "super-moon".
People started getting frightened about the future "super-moon" from early March, predicting disasters - earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, powerful storms and floods. As they say, the moon, with its attraction, should simply provoke them, prompting an outrage in the subsoil and in the atmosphere.
The disasters during the previous "super-moons" just accidental and can even be mystic coincidence.
In fact, nothing catastrophic happened in 1992.
In 1955, the battleship "Novorossiysk exploded during a raid and sank in the Black Sea. The mystery of the disaster, in which more than 600 sailors were killed, is yet to be resolved. But, blaming the moon for the disaster can be a big stretch.
In short, the astronomers propose not to panic.
The “Super-Moon” phenomenon in the sky is accompanied by the northern lights. One more mysterious surprise?
Cataclysm in Japan - earthquake, tsunamis and accidents at nuclear power plants occurred just 8 days before the rapprochement with the night luminary. Once again, is it an accidental coincidence? Scientists are not so categorical in the estimates.
Of course, experts have recognized the influence of the Moon, but not directly, since the earthquake, by itself is a great force. It is prepared by subsoil movements, stresses and the deformation of lithosphere beds. The moon can barely push the earthquake and trigger it earlier by a day, two days or a month. The Moon can work like a “trigger”. This is the view of our experts - Evgeny Rogozhin, Dy. Director of Institute of Physics at the Earth of Russian Academy of Sciences (IPE RAS), Doctorate of Geology - Mineralogical Sciences, Professor of Department of Dynamic Geology, Geological Faculty of Moscow State University, expert on seismotectonics and Head of the Laboratory of earthquakes IPE RAS, Doctorate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Sergey Arefiev.
Academician and the Vice President of Russian Academy of Sciences, Nikolay Laverov has also talked about the “trigger”. But, in an interview with “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, he blamed the shift in the center of mass of the "Earth-Moon” system, which occurred due to their rapprochement.
According to the academician, the scientists have been trying to understand how the mechanism works since the times of Newton. Till today, scientists could not understand it and are still working on it including the group of experts in Russia, headed by Valery Kozlov, Vice President of Russian Academy of Sciences. They all are trying to understand all the subtleties of the interaction between the Moon and Earth.
Summary:
On all levels: Someway or another, the Moon is to be blamed for the current disasters on the Earth. Let us consider that the Moon had triggered the earthquake, tsunami and even a volcanic eruption, which occurred recently on Kyushu Island in Japan just before the “super-moon”. What is left? Powerful hurricanes and floods devastated the place.
The full moon in general and the “super-moon” in particular aggravate the condition of "sleepwalkers" - people with an unstable mentality. Their outbursts are possible.
Good things: The "Super Moon" is extraordinarily beautiful. For years together, amateur astronomers wait for this unforgettable spectacle.
Information:
The next rendezvous with the full moon is expected on November 14, 2016 (356,511 km) and then on November 25, 2034 (356,447 km). |
The super moon was today blamed for causing five ships to run aground off the British coast as the lunar phenomenon lowered tides. The moon was at its closest to the earth for 19 years and some believe it may also have triggered Japan's tsunami, although astronomers have dismissed the claims as pure nonsense.
A British coastguard spokesman said a 25 foot yacht had also run aground and three other vessels were also marooned by the unexpected turn of events.
He said: "We checked them all and there were no injuries, just some surprise at being caught out like this. Blame it on the Moon."
