On November 5 and December 4, two consecutive Supermoon events will be observed, the Department of Astrophysics at the Faculty of Physics of Baku State University (BSU) told APA.
A Supermoon occurs when the Full Moon phase coincides with the Moon being at its perigee -- the point in its orbit closest to Earth. If the perigee distance is less than 360,000 km, the Full Moon is called a Supermoon. When the Moon is at this distance, it appears about 7-14% larger and approximately 15-30% brighter than a regular Full Moon. For example, on November 5 and December 4, the Moon will appear about 8% larger and 16% brighter than usual.
The distance between the Moon and Earth will be 356,832 km on November 5 and 356,961 km on December 4. The closest perigee ever recorded occurred on January 4, 1912, when the distance was 356,375 km. In later years, other close approaches were observed on January 26, 1948 (356,508 km), November 14, 2016 (356,509 km), and January 1, 2018 (356,565 km). The next closest approach -- 356,447 km -- will occur on November 25, 2034, and will coincide with a Supermoon event.
The Supermoon phenomenon poses no danger to humans. However, as the Moon approaches the Earth, its gravitational pull affects ocean and sea levels, causing them to rise about 3-5 cm higher than usual.
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