SUPER MOON. Tonight, the “Super Strawberry Moon” was visible in the night sky of France and around the world. Here are the most beautiful images and explanations of the phenomenon.
[Mis à jour le 15 juin 2022 à 16h41] This night from Tuesday 14 to Wednesday 15 June, the full moon was closer to our planet and we were able to see it bigger and brighter than usual, a phenomenon that is nicknamed “Super Moon” but which scientists prefer to call “perigee-syzygia”, when the full Moon is at the point in its orbit closest to the Earth. The position of our natural satellite relative to the Earth was indeed at a distance of 357,658 kilometers, one of the shortest. For those who failed to roll their eyes, don’t panic! The next Supermoon is scheduled for July 13.
Tonight, the conditions were ideal for admiring the Moon. Given the clear sky, this Super Moon was for once extremely well visible in the night sky of France. From the United States to China via Marseille, discover the most beautiful super moon pictures occurred on the night of June 14 to 15:
The June 14, 2022 Super Moon occurred precisely at 1:51:46 p.m., according to the Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation (IMCCE). Its observation in France was only possible from moonrise at 10:36 p.m. tonight, until 6:08 a.m. on Wednesday June 15.
The phenomenon baptized “Super Moon” by astrologer Richard Nolle, but which scientists prefer to call “phenomenon of perigee-syzygy”, takes place when the point of the lunar orbit is at a minimum distance from the Earth. When is the Moon closest to the Earth? When located at a distance of less than 360,000 km (the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 384,400 km) according to the Paris Observatory. On June 14, the full moon was about 357,658 kilometers from Earth.
The Super Moon phenomenon is only visible from countries where it is dark when it passes behind the Earth. The Super Moon is only really observable after sunset, with the naked eye, using binoculars or telescopes. In order to observe a Super Moon in optimal conditions, it is necessary to equip yourself with astronomical glasses or a telescope, far from atmospheric pollution, or go to one of the clubs of the French Association of Astronomy (AFA). See the map.
To be sure to observe all the details of the next Super Moon, you must arm yourself with a telescope or a pair of binoculars and be as far as possible from the lights of the city. The Super Moon can only be observed without a telescope if the weather is very mild. To observe a Super Moon, the sky must not be overcast.
In astronomy, this event is called “perigee-syzygia”, the name of Super Moon having nothing scientific, since it is an invention of the astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979. “A Super moon occurs when the full moon coincides with when the Moon comes closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point called perigee,” explains the NASA website.
By Super Moon, we therefore mean a celestial phenomenon that is due to two elements: the only satellite of planet Earth passes closest to us when it is a full moon evening.
The Strawberry Super Moon is so named by Native American tribes because it coincides with strawberry season, when they are ripe and can be harvested, usually near the summer solstice. On the other hand, it does not have a red color or a fruit shape!
A Super Moon appears slightly brighter and larger than a Full Moon, simply because it appears at perigee, at its closest orbit point to Earth, less than 360,000 km away.
Due to the proximity of the full moon to our planet Earth, its effects have an even stronger impact on tides, mood and sleep. Indeed, as explained by a Swiss scientific study carried out in 2013 published in the journal Current Biology, “a lunar rhythm can modulate the structure of sleep in humans”. This means that the time to fall asleep is extended by 5 minutes, deep sleep is reduced by 30% and the duration of sleep by 20 minutes. Consequently, the level of melatonin, a hormone secreted during our sleep, which has a role to play in mood, is lower, which can cause irritability or even depression.
If lunar eclipses can occur several times a year, the conjunction of the two phenomena (Super Moon and total eclipse) is rare and gives rise to what is called a blood moon. Several centuries ago, “blood moons” were perceived as the announcement of great catastrophes. Today, we know that this color is due to the projection of sunlight. During the lunar eclipse, it is possible to “see the reflections on the lunar surface of all sunrises and sunsets on Earth”, a phenomenon which results from “a rare alignment of these three astronomical cycles”, a Professor Jason Aufdenberg of Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University in Florida pointed out to Point.
If a supermoon is announced as a blue supermoon, it has nothing to do with its color. It is so called because it is the second full moon of a calendar month. A fact that only happens every 19 years. The last Super Blue Moon was on January 31, 2018. The conjunction of the phenomena, super blue moon and super blood moon, had not occurred since March 31, 1866 and the next one will not take place before January 31, 2037. The use of the term “blue” would result from a blunder in an article in the American magazine of amateur astronomy Sky and Telescope, in 1946. The article in question was titled “Once in a Blue Moon” and was written by journalist James Hugh Pruett who misinterpreted the Maine Farmers’ Almanac of 1937. And so this confusing expression has gone around the world in no time…! Every two to three years, the year includes 13 full moons instead of 12. The super blue moon is therefore associated with the number 13. Beliefs from the Middle Ages associate these years with 13 full moons with natural disasters, but gardeners rather evoke particularly rainy years not conducive to harvests.
The expression “Super Moon of the century” is to be taken with a grain of salt. The last time our satellite approached so close to the earth was in 1948. On November 14, 2016, the Moon had never been so big since 1948. NASA, who spoke of “super extra Moon”, announced one of the “most impressive lunar appearances of the century”. But if you were expecting to see a gigantic Moon, you may have been disappointed. “This full moon [était] actually closest to Earth for the year 2016 […]but its change in apparent diameter [n’était] absolutely not obvious to perceive with the naked eye”, explained then the scientific author Guillaume Cannat in his blog Around the sky. The notion of “Super Moon” was invented by an astrologer some forty years ago, and clumsily used by the NASA press service”, he continued. Although the phenomenon is quite exceptional, Guillaume Cannat then warned us about the “exceptional” nature of his observation.
Mark the date of the next Super Moon in your calendar: Wednesday, July 13, 2022, scheduled for 8:38 p.m. in Capricorn. The next Super Blue Blood Moon will not reoccur until January 31, 2037.