Smallest Full Moon of 2011 Rises Tonight
The smallest full moon of 2011, referred to as October’s Full Hunter Moon, will rise in the east at sunset Tuesday evening.
The far away moon will sit closely to the top right of Jupiter, the shine of which will be more noticeable due to the moon’s miniature appearance.
According to MSNBC, on Wednesday morning, the moon will arrive at the apogee of its orbit at 252, 546 miles, which is only 154 miles from to moon’s possible furthest distance from the earth.
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The moon’s average distance from earth is 237,700 miles.
Therefore the full moon will appear very tiny to viewers come Tuesday night. By Wednesday evening, the moon will have recessed to its phase as a new moon, invisible to those on earth.
During the moon’s monthly elliptical orbit, its distance from earth varies, thus contributing to its size. The moon is at its perigee when closest to the earth, and at its apogee when farthest.
Gravitational pull also contributes to the moon’s appearance.
The further away the moon, the less gravitational pull it exerts on earth. Therefore, tides will be especially low tonight and tomorrow. There will also be less variation between low and high tide.
“The moon's orbit is elliptical [oval] rather than perfectly circular, which is why the distance from Earth to the moon varies by tens of thousands of miles depending on the time of month and year,” according to the LiveScience website.
Its far distance from earth will also put the moon into an especially slow orbit, making the tiny orb of light appear stationary against surrounding stars.
This compares to the moon’s 2011 perigee, which occurred on Mar. 19, when the “super moon” was 50,000 km closer to earth than the standard apogee.
This super moon marked the largest to viewers since March 1983.
The last apogee moon was on Sept. 15 at 406,067 kilometers from earth.
The moon will reach its maximum fullness at 10:06 p.m. Eastern Daylight time tonight.
