Biggest, brightest pink supermoon of 2020 on Wednesday

The biggest, most beautiful and brightest pink supermoon of the year 2020 will be visible on Wednesday.

S A Mohan Krishna, observational astronomer, said, “Coronavirus, COVID-19, lockdown, sultry weather, etc have caused anxiety among the people. They need some diversion. On April 8, Indians can witness the spectacular, resplendent, and biggest supermoon of this year. This is known as lunar perigee and a normal lunar perigee averaging a distance of 3,62,479 km happens once every orbital period. This event can be referred as ‘Supermoon’. The Earth, Moon and Sun will be in a line, with the Moon in its nearest approach to Earth.”

In February, the full moon ushered in a series of four full moon supermoons — on February 9, March 9, April 8 and May 7. There will be three new moon supermoons on September 17, October 16 and November 15. All of these full moons are less than 3,63,000 km distance, as measured from the centers of the Earth and moon. In contrast, the previous year’s farthest full moon on September 14, 2019, was at a distance of 4,06,248 km.

He said, “The Supermoons that occurred in 1955, 1974, 1992, 2005, 2011, 2016 and 2018 were amazing. It is a scientific fact that when the Moon is at perigee, there is more gravitational pull, creating higher tides or significant variations in high and low tides. In addition, the tidal effect of the Sun’s gravitational field increases the Moon’s orbital eccentricity when the orbit’s major axis is aligned with the Sun-Earth vector."

"The average tidal bulge closely follows the Moon in its orbit, and the Earth rotates under this tidal bulge in just over a day. However, the rotation drags the position of the tidal bulge ahead of the position directly under the Moon. Generally, Tidal forces contribute to ocean currents, which moderate global temperatures by transporting heat energy towards the poles. It has been suggested that in addition to other factors, harmonic beat variations in tidal forcing may contribute to climate changes,” said Mohan Krishna.

Astronomers have estimated that the supermoon will be around 15% brighter and 30% bigger than the average full moon.