The night before last, the moon approached Earth dramatically, for the first time in 993 years, in a heavenly miracle that is likely to be repeated after 345 years.
Due to its proximity to Earth, this is the largest appearance of the moon in the sky since December 3, 1030, when it was 356,568 kilometers, or 221,561 miles from Earth, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory information, the next largest moon will be on January 20, 2368.
And the Moon’s orbit through the Earth is far from a perfect circle. In fact, it is elliptical and represents a barely extended circle. Because of its shape, the distance between the Moon and the Earth is constantly changing over the course of a month. The point of the Moon’s orbit closest to Earth is called the perihelion, while the point farthest from the planet is known as the aphelion. The longest distance from Earth to the Moon is seen when the Earth is closest to the Sun. And this happened on January 4 for nearly 2000 years, 3 new moons have occurred at distances of less than 356,570 km.
Yesterday’s moon held great importance because it signaled the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the “Spring Competition.”
According to the Chinese calendar, this year is called the “Year of the Rabbit”. The Chinese calendar incorporates lunar and photovoltaic methodologies to ensure dates. The total distance between the Moon and the Earth by such accidents is critical.
On April 20, the world will witness a complete solar eclipse in Australia, Timor-Leste and West Papua. Also, in October, an annular luminous eclipse will be witnessed in the United States, Mexico and South America.