Skywatchers will get a chance to take in the grandeur of a big and bright moon for the last time this year next month. The third of the super moons in 2020, the Flower Super Moon will be visible on 7 May.
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, May’s full moon will reach full illumination at 4.15 pm IST on Thursday, 7 May.
This year has seen a number of radiant super moons. First came the Worm Moon in the month of March, which was followed by April’s Pink Moon, and the last for the year will be May’s Flower Moon.
The term ‘super moon’ was first coined in 1979 and was used to describe a perigean full moon, which is a full moon occurring near or at a time when the moon is at the closest point in its orbit around Earth.
The perigee or the closest point of the elliptical orbit is on average about 405,500 kilometres away from Earth.
The Flower Super Moon will be about 2,500 miles away from the Earth as compared to its distance during the April super moon. For the naked eye, however, the Flower Moon will be easily visible and appear bright and big enough to be categorised as a super moon.
The third closest super moon or the perigean moon is referred to as Flower Moon as it coincides with the spring blossoms in the northern hemisphere.
It is also expected to affect the Earth’s oceans as the moon will have a greater gravitational pull. This can result in extra-high tides in the waters, which may cause coastal flooding in extreme weather conditions. However, a report in The Independent states that early May’s weather is not likely to be hugely affected.
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