Learn more about the Super Moon phenomenon. Watch this YouTube video. http://youtu.be/kOplwuMTyS4

The Super Moon The Moon’s elliptical orbit around the Earth makes it closer to Earth at its perigee and farthest from Earth at its apogee.

Date Distance (km) 2-Jan 404589 17-Jan 369899 30-Jan 404325 11-Feb 367928 27-Feb 404842 10-Mar 362408 26-Mar 405744 7-Apr 358324 22-Apr 406431 5-May 356964 19-May 406439 3-Jun 358491 15-Jun 405796 1-Jul 362366 13-Jul 404793 29-Jul 367310 10-Aug 404122 23-Aug 369740 7-Sep 404303 18-Sep 365759 4-Oct 405183 16-Oct 360660 1-Nov 406066 14-Nov 357356 The Super Moon This table shows the distance from the Earth to the Moon throughout 2012. Notice how the distances vary, reflecting the changes from apogee to perigee.

Date Distance (km) 2 404589 17 369899 30 404325 42 367928 58 404842 70 362408 86 405744 98 358324 113 406431 126 356964 140 406439 155 358491 167 405796 183 362366 195 404793 211 367310 223 404122 236 369740 251 404303 262 365759 278 405183 290 360660 306 406066 319 357356 The Super Moon To graph the data let’s convert the dates to numerical values. January 1 is assigned 1 and December 31 is assigned 360. We can now graph this as a scatterplot.

The Super Moon The graph of the data shows how the distance from the Earth to the Moon is periodic.

Date Distance (km) 2 404589 17 369899 30 404325 42 367928 58 404842 70 362408 86 405744 98 358324 113 406431 126 356964 140 406439 155 358491 167 405796 183 362366 195 404793 211 367310 223 404122 236 369740 251 404303 262 365759 278 405183 290 360660 306 406066 319 357356 The Super Moon We can modify the data to make it easier to graph. The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384483 km. Let’s rescale the data using this formula:

The Super Moon Here is the rescaled data. Date Distance (km) 2 2.0186 17 -1.4504 30 1.9922 42 -1.6475 58 2.0439 70 -2.1995 86 2.1341 98 -2.6079 113 2.2028 126 -2.7439 140 2.2036 155 -2.5912 167 2.1393 183 -2.2037 195 2.039 211 -1.7093 223 1.9719 236 -1.4663 251 1.99 262 -1.8644 278 2.078 290 -2.3743 306 2.1663 319 -2.7047 333 2.1963 347 -2.7319 360 2.1691 The Super Moon Here is the rescaled data.

The Super Moon Here is the graph of the rescaled data with the Super Moon highlighted.

The Super Moon The reason that a Super Moon is so rare is that the periods for the phases of the Moon and its orbit differ by about two days. These graphs show how they quickly get out of phase, and it takes many periods for them to intersect. Super Moons happen about once a year.

The Super Moon Do you plan on watching the next Super Moon?