August 10 Was a Double Bonanza for Astronomy Enthusiasts

On August 10 ^th, the world saw a great spectacle which grabbed the attention of many people. It marked the best Supermoon of the year. On this day or rather night, the moon was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than normal and this was the closest the moon has been to earth in the past twenty years. This year's Supermoon was accompanied by the annual Perseid meteor shower lighting up the sky. So for those interested in astronomy this was indeed a lucky day.

A Supermoon is a new moon with the closest approach it makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit. It is one of the many lunar events that take place every year. The key to the sightings of the Meteor shower is a dark and clear sky. Meteor showers are not uncommon but because of clouds or poor weather they are sometimes not visible. But with no clouds to block the view, more than 100 meteors an hour were visible on this occasion. There are a number of meteor showers that exist but according to a study conducted since 2008, Perseids appear to be the undisputed 'fireball champion' of meteor showers.

As far as supermoons go, this was not the last one this year. Another Supermoon is being expected to occur on September 9. These Supermoons form a trio, the first of which occurred on July 12 then August 10 and the next is due on September 9. The best location to view the Supermoon from is currently northern Scotland. The mountainous areas of Essex County will also provide a great view of the supermoon.

As the Earth's Tides depend on the gravitational pull of the moon, the closing in of the moon is going to cause some high tides in Britain but the experts are not expecting any flooding.

Entities 0 Name: moon Count: 4 1 Name: Earth Count: 2 2 Name: Scotland Count: 1 3 Name: Essex County Count: 1 4 Name: Britain Count: 1 5 Name: Perseids Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1uDqwxk Title: Brightest in 20 years: Spectacular ISS pics of Sunday's supermoon Description: image from www.artemjew.ru A Russian cosmonaut has posted stunning pictures of the supermoon, giving a preview to one of the most dramatic space events of the year. On Sunday, stargazers will be able to view the biggest and brightest moon in 20 years.

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