NSW: Moon s a balloon but you won t notice

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-1999
NSW: Moon s a balloon but you won t notice

Sky watchers are in for a treat tonight with the moon never having been so close or so bright.

But scientists say you won't notice much difference.

Three celestial events will coincide - the summer solstice, the full moon and the perigee
of the moon (when its orbit brings it closest to earth).

At 10pm (AEDT) the full moon will be 356,654km from the earth - within 500km of the
closest it has ever come.

This will cause the full moon to appear slightly bigger and the effect of the solstice
will make it slightly brighter.

To have the events coincide is a rare experience. The last similar occurrence was in
1930 and the next won't be until 2052.

But Anglo-Australian Observatory astronomer FRED WATSON says he's underwhelmed by the
event and expects it to be dead boring.

Parkes Observatory's JOHN SARKISSIAN says we'll be hard-pressed to notice the difference.

The events this evening - the shortest evening of the year - begin with the solstice
at 6.45pm, followed by moonrise at 7.28pm, the moon's perigee at 10pm and the moon at
its fullest at 4.30am on Thursday morning.

Weather forecasts for tonight vary. Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra are
all set to have some cloud.

However, sceptical astronomers and bad weather seem unlikely to deter amateur astronomers
from watching such an unusual event.

AAP RTV vc/jc/jnb/rcg/jn

KEYWORD: MOON (SYDNEY)

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