Ava Noble: Supermoon

Summary:      

     Last night, November 13th, the biggest moon in 70 years lit up our sky. The moon appears so largely because it is closer to Earth in its orbit. It was 15 percent brighter than normal and appeared 7 percent larger. David Kipping, who is a professor at Columbia University for astronomy, said that the illusion the moon created made it look more colorful too. It will be 18 more years until the moon will appear this close again. Also, to get excited for what we will see in the future, in 2019, Mercury will glide across the sun. In 2117, Venus will have its next transit. In New York, they are not expecting another solar eclipse until 2079. To think in closer terms, next month one of the best and most consistent meteor showers, the Geminids, will occur. Now, enjoy bright blue skies today because of the supermoon!

Analysis/Synthesis:    

      Jonathan Wolfe published this article on November 14, 2016, on New York Times. Since this was published before the supermoon occurred, I think he was publishing it to get the word out about the supermoon. It is such a beautiful sight, and since we will not see it for 18 more years, you would not want to miss it. I believe it was published for all audiences. Personally, I found out about the supermoon by this article. This shows that publishing the article was, in fact, effective. To synthesize, this moon reminded me of when the moon turns red during the Lunar Eclipse. It will occur again on January 31, 2018. It happens when the earth moves in between the sun and moon, creating a shadow on the moon. It is so unbelievable to me that we know so many things about the solar system, and we can predict the exact date of future events in the solar system.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/nyregion/new-york-today-supermoon-asser-levy-neediest-cases.html?_r=0 

and

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/why-does-moon-look-red-lunar-eclipse.html