Exerpts From The Courier Mail, Brisbane, Saturday 5 March 2011.
(By Claire Connelly From: news.com.au March 04, 2011 9:06AM)
Moonageddon: on March 19, our nearest neighbour will be at its closest since 1993. The moon - stalking the Earth since 4.4 billion BC.
Picture courtesy NASA Source: NASA
Apparently, the moon at closest point since 1993. It could mean high tides, it could mean worldwide apocalpyse. IT'S not a bad moon rising, but it is a big one. The question of whether trouble's on the way, however, is entirely up to what or who you believe. In a fortnight Earth will experience the biggest moon it has seen in nearly two decades. As well as providing some unique photo opportunities, some astronomers - well, one - are already predicting it may bring more worrying disruptions to the Earth’s climate patterns.
Earthquakes are not out of the question. More about that later. For now, all you need to know is that on March 19th the moon will be at its closest point to Earth in 18 years, an event that is known as a “lunar perigee”. Or the much more exciting “SuperMoon”, as one astrologer called it.
On March 19, the moon will be just 356,577km away from Earth, an event that has internet theorists a-quiver with the possibility of extreme weather, earthquakes and volcanoes. Not all scientists are convinced, however.
Though throughout the last year the world may have seen birds falling from the sky and schools of dead fish washing up on the shore, Pete Wheeler of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy says we shouldn’t be running to our bomb shelters just yet.
“There will be no earthquakes or volcanoes,” Mr Wheeler told news.com.au, “unless they are to happen anyway". “(The Earth will experience) just a lower than usual low tide and a higher than usual high tide around the time of the event, but nothing to get excited about.”
But try telling that to anyone who suffered through the New England hurricane in 1938, or the Hunter Valley floods of 1955. Both happened during lunar perigrees. Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 also coincided with SuperMoons, or at least, very close to.
Bah, says astronomer and lecturer David Reneke, who claims there’s more cause for alarm about the extent of human paranoia than any sort of impending apocalypse. “If you try hard enough you can chronologically associate almost any natural disaster/event to anything in the night sky ... comet, planet, sun,” Dr Reneke told news.com.au "Remember in the past, planetary alignments were going to pull the sun apart. It didn't. Astrologers draw a very long bow most times.
“Normal king tides are about all I would expect out of this SuperMoon prediction.”
So no luck, astrologers, voodoo priests and other assorted witches. It seems Science has all the answers this time.
But wait - this just in from Dr Victor Gostin, Planetary and Environmental Geoscientist at Adelaide University.
He told news.com.au the predictions of weather and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters based on planetary configurations have not been successful, but there may be some correlation between near-equatorial large scale earthquakes and new and full moon situations.
“This is because the Earth-tides (analogous to ocean tides) may be the final trigger that sets off the earthquake,” he said.
And of course there’s always the possibility of getting that Creedence Clearwater Revival song stuck in your head, topping the list of terrifying events that make it hard not to become paranoid about the night of March 19. Looks like we're in for nasty weather...
What do you think?
(By Claire Connelly From: news.com.au March 04, 2011 9:06AM)
Moonageddon: on March 19, our nearest neighbour will be at its closest since 1993. The moon - stalking the Earth since 4.4 billion BC.
Apparently, the moon at closest point since 1993. It could mean high tides, it could mean worldwide apocalpyse. IT'S not a bad moon rising, but it is a big one. The question of whether trouble's on the way, however, is entirely up to what or who you believe. In a fortnight Earth will experience the biggest moon it has seen in nearly two decades. As well as providing some unique photo opportunities, some astronomers - well, one - are already predicting it may bring more worrying disruptions to the Earth’s climate patterns.
Earthquakes are not out of the question. More about that later. For now, all you need to know is that on March 19th the moon will be at its closest point to Earth in 18 years, an event that is known as a “lunar perigee”. Or the much more exciting “SuperMoon”, as one astrologer called it.
On March 19, the moon will be just 356,577km away from Earth, an event that has internet theorists a-quiver with the possibility of extreme weather, earthquakes and volcanoes. Not all scientists are convinced, however.
Though throughout the last year the world may have seen birds falling from the sky and schools of dead fish washing up on the shore, Pete Wheeler of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy says we shouldn’t be running to our bomb shelters just yet.
“There will be no earthquakes or volcanoes,” Mr Wheeler told news.com.au, “unless they are to happen anyway". “(The Earth will experience) just a lower than usual low tide and a higher than usual high tide around the time of the event, but nothing to get excited about.”
But try telling that to anyone who suffered through the New England hurricane in 1938, or the Hunter Valley floods of 1955. Both happened during lunar perigrees. Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 also coincided with SuperMoons, or at least, very close to.
Bah, says astronomer and lecturer David Reneke, who claims there’s more cause for alarm about the extent of human paranoia than any sort of impending apocalypse. “If you try hard enough you can chronologically associate almost any natural disaster/event to anything in the night sky ... comet, planet, sun,” Dr Reneke told news.com.au "Remember in the past, planetary alignments were going to pull the sun apart. It didn't. Astrologers draw a very long bow most times.
“Normal king tides are about all I would expect out of this SuperMoon prediction.”
So no luck, astrologers, voodoo priests and other assorted witches. It seems Science has all the answers this time.
But wait - this just in from Dr Victor Gostin, Planetary and Environmental Geoscientist at Adelaide University.
He told news.com.au the predictions of weather and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters based on planetary configurations have not been successful, but there may be some correlation between near-equatorial large scale earthquakes and new and full moon situations.
“This is because the Earth-tides (analogous to ocean tides) may be the final trigger that sets off the earthquake,” he said.
And of course there’s always the possibility of getting that Creedence Clearwater Revival song stuck in your head, topping the list of terrifying events that make it hard not to become paranoid about the night of March 19. Looks like we're in for nasty weather...
What do you think?
Hello lovely. I have the honour of being your first formal follower? You are now on my blog roll! A-M xx
ReplyDeleteHello Dear A-M, I am very excited! Thank you for your support! I am a bit nervous! M xoxoxox
ReplyDelete