- News

Make sure you look skywards tomorrow night, to get a rare glimpse of the Moon at its largest and brightest, for 20 years.

The lunar phenomenon is due to a lunar perigee - meaning the moon will be the closest it has been to Earth for 18 years - a mere 220,000 miles away from Earth; in addition. the moon will also be at the fullest stage of its cycle, adding even more to the dramatic effect and helping to create the label 'Extreme Super-Moon'.

Space Ambassador for Wales, Paul Roche, describes how: "Because of its slightly shorter distance to Earth on Saturday, the full moon will appear about 12% larger in size, and up to 30% brighter than normal when it rises in the sky, so it will be well worth taking a look at it."

The recent massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11 has once again started a debate on the role of the 'Super-Moon' in causing natural disasters on Earth, but Dr Roche is quick to snuff this theory out: "The problem with this theory is that on March 11th, the moon was not particularly close to earth, nor was it a full or new moon, so there was no alignment between the earth-moon-sun system. In fact, the moon was close to first quarter, so it was almost at a right angle to the line between the earth and the sun. According to the “Supermoon” theory, the moon’s effect on the earth’s tides should have been at its least on that day."

And while some harbingers of doom continue to suggest that the lunar perigee will have cataclysmic effects on the world's oceans and tectonic activity, Dr Kevin Horsburgh of the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool which monitor's Britain's tidal pattern, is keen to nip such sensationalism in the bud: "Tidal forces from the moon are roughly 10 to 15 per cent stronger during a lunar perigee which coincides with the spring tides once every four and a half years. But that doesn't mean we'd expect the tides to be 10 to 15 per cent higher," he adds. At most, scientists say, we might expect to see tides rise by about an inch during a Super-Moon phase, hardly a figure that should create panic.

The Full Moon will be happening at 6.10pm on Saturday.

For teaching resources related to the Moon, why not visit the eLibrary?

These news items originally appeared on The Independent and University of Glamorgan websites