Biggest Full Moon in 19 Years Almost Certainly Won't Cause a Huge Natural Disaster. On March 19th, the moon will be closer to Earth than it's been since 1992. The full moon that night will appear about 14 percent larger and significantly brighter than usual, but despite the brightness, the supermoon has a dark side. Supermoons have been linked to massive natural disasters in the past, from earthquakes to floods--but that connection is typically touted by astrologists. Astronomers and scientists, with typical drollness, say a catastrophe is unlikely. March 19th marks this year's lunar perigee, the point in the moon's orbit at which it is closest to Earth. It's the moon's elliptical orbit that's responsible for the differences in distance between the moon and Earth (the opposite, the point at which the moon is farthest from the Earth, is called the lunar apogee).
This month's perigee will leave the moon, says Steve Owens at Dark Sky Diary, about 8 percent closer to Earth than usual, and about 2 percent closer to Earth than the average lunar perigee. NASA Releasing First Views Of The Entire Sun On Super Sun-Day. MEDIA ADVISORY : M11-025 NASA Releasing First Views Of The Entire Sun On Super Sun-Day WASHINGTON -- NASA will score big on super SUN-day at 11 a.m. EST, Sunday, Feb. 6, with the release online of the first complete view of the sun's entire surface and atmosphere. Seeing the whole sun front and back simultaneously will enable significant advances in space weather forecasting for Earth, and improve planning for future robotic or crewed spacecraft missions throughout the solar system. These views are the result of observations by NASA's two Solar TErrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft. The duo are on diametrically opposite sides of the sun, 180 degrees apart.
One is ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind. Launched in October 2006, STEREO traces the flow of energy and matter from the sun to Earth. STEREO is the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program within the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Astronomy. NASA Remembers Those Lost Pursuing Discovery And Exploration. MEDIA ADVISORY : M11-014 NASA Remembers Those Lost Pursuing Discovery And Exploration WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will lay a wreath at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at 10 a.m.
EST, Thursday, Jan. 27, to commemorate the agency's National Day of Remembrance. NASA has an agency-wide Day of Remembrance every January to honor the fallen crews of Apollo 1, space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and all of those who have given their lives in the cause of exploration. Journalists who want to attend the wreath-laying ceremony must contact the Arlington National Cemetery public affairs office at dave.foster1@us.army.mil by 4 p.m., Jan. 26, for access information. At 10:30 a.m., NASA's Kennedy Space Center Director and former astronaut Bob Cabana will take part in a wreath-laying at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Collimation. Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Orbiter. ISS - Visible Passes.
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