Lunar Perigee

This past Saturday night saw the raising of "SuperMoon" so dubbed by 1970's astrologer Richard Nolle.  The 100-percent full moon approached the Earth at a distance of 221,567 miles, as opposed to its average distance of about 239,000 miles, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Nolle’s “March 2011 Forecast” (which advises of many other foreboding cosmic happenings), warns of the March 19 “SuperMoon,” foretelling of a slew of natural disasters brought about by the soon-gigantic lunar satellite.

“Markets, geopolitics and history aside, you can’t get there from here if you don’t get out of Mother Nature’s way,” he writes. “First and foremost, that means being mindful of the March 19 full moon 28° 48′ Virgo. It’s arguably the year’s most extreme SuperMoon, for a couple of reasons: it’s the closest SuperMoon of the year, occurring within an hour of lunar perigee (the Moon’s closest approach to Earth): the Moon will look huge when it rises at sunset.

“And being so close to the vernal equinox, this SuperMoon occurs within hours of the moment the full moon crosses the celestial equator from north to south, just as the Sun crosses in the opposite direction,” he continues. “That makes this a major geophysical stress window, centered on the actual alignment date but in effect from the 16th through the 22nd.

“Of course you can expect the usual: a surge in extreme tides along the coasts, a rash of moderate-to-severe seismic activity (including magnitude 5+ earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions), and most especially in this case a dramatic spike in powerful storms with heavy precipitation, damaging winds and extreme electrical activity,” explains Nolle. “Floods are a big part of the picture in this case, although some of these will be dry electrical storms that spark fast-spreading wildfires.”

NASA countered with Dr. James Garvin chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who downplayed any adverse effects the moon’s close proximity would have here on Earth on March 11th.

“The effects on Earth from a supermoon are minor, and according to the most detailed studies by terrestrial seismologists and volcanologists, the combination of the moon being at its closest to Earth in its orbit, and being in its ‘full moon’ configuration (relative to the Earth and sun), should not affect the internal energy balance of the Earth since there are lunar tides every day,” he explains. “The Earth has stored a tremendous amount of internal energy within its thin outer shell or crust, and the small differences in the tidal forces exerted by the moon (and sun) are not enough to fundamentally overcome the much larger forces within the planet due to convection (and other aspects of the internal energy balance that drives plate tectonics).  “Nonetheless, these supermoon times remind us of the effect of our ‘Africa-sized’ nearest neighbor on our lives, affecting ocean tides and contributing to many cultural aspects of our lives (as a visible aspect of how our planet is part of the solar system and space).”

A group of us went to West Loch Shoreline Community Park to take advantage of the "SuperMoon" with the hopes of getting some good pictures..."fail"!   The Ko'olau Mountains were cloudy with huge threat of rain. We actually spent the first 45 minutes or so standing under a banyan tree because of the threat of rain.  

The moon teased us early on by showing some hope of appearing only to disappear as soon as we set up our equipment.  Then when we gave up, packed everything and got ready to leave...it would pop out again.  Finally a little before 8pm the moon came out from hiding and showed it's face.  Unfortunately by then it looked like an ordinary full moon...nothing "special."