Tonight’s full Moon is the biggest full Moon of 2007. It’s no illusion. Some full Moons are genuinely larger than others and this one is a whopper.
The Moon’s orbit is an ellipse with one side 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the other. The full Moon of Oct. 25-26 is located on the near side, making it appear as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons we’ve seen earlier in 2007.
In the language of astronomy, the two ends of the Moon’s orbit are called “apogee” and “perigee.” Apogee is the farthest point, perigee the nearest: diagram. This week’s full Moon is a “perigee Moon” with extra-high “perigean tides.”
Today I was trying to retrace my Himalayan trek route… After Vasuki tal I could not locate Khara Pattar… the trail is evasive… I have decided to buy a GPS instrument and create a digital trail of my future treks. Today I wrote to my friend Shreenidhi Thotadamoole in US to get me a Garmin GPSMAP® 76CSx.
