2018 will start with a brilliant New Year’s Day Supermoon
2017 might have been a terrible year for some, but for astronomy lovers it was great, with a total solar eclipse and plenty of cosmic goings-on. It looks like in 2018 the skies will be just as busy, kicking off with a supermoon on the first day of the year.
These massive-looking full moons are truly beautiful, and capturing one on camera is the end goal for many a sky-watcher. We’ve been treated to three supermoons in a row, with the first one being at the start of December. However, you can still catch the next two.
What is a supermoon? A supermoon is a full moon that appears to be much bigger than usual. This is because the moon orbits the earth in a an oval shape rather than a circle, making it closer to the earth at some points. Every 29.5 days when it reaches the closes point to the earth this is known as a perigee. Now and again, this perigee will also fall at the same time as a full moon. There are no effects of a supermoon but it looks mesmerising in the sky, appearing around 14% bigger and 30% brighter than your average full moon. Depending on where it is on the horizon it can look even larger, in a trick of the eyes called ‘the moon illusion’.
When are January’s supermoons? We have two supermoons this month, with the first falling on New Year’s Day – this is nicknamed the wolf moon. Then, on January 31st, the so-called blue moon will arrive, which is also a supermoon.
Reference: http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/31/when-is-the-next-full-moon-how-to-see-the-january-supermoons-7193116/?utm_campaign=awesummly&utm_source=awesummly