'supermoon' Rises: Biggest Full Moon In 18 Years Occurs Saturday Night

Thanks to a fluke of orbital mechanics that brings the moon closer to Earth than that it has been in more than 18 years, the biggest full moon of 2011 will occur on Saturday, leading some observers to dub it a "supermoon."

On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011: a distance of 221,565 miles (356,575 kilometers) away. And only 50 minutes earlier, the moon will officially be full.

At its peak, the supermoon of March may appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons (when the moon is at its farthest from Earth), weather permitting. Yet to the casual observer, it may be hard to tell the difference.

The supermoon will not cause natural disasters, such as the Japan earthquake, a NASA scientist has stressed.

Spotting the supermoon

The moon has not been in a position to appear this large since March 1993.
In December 2008, there was a near-supermoon when the moon turned full four hours away from its perigee – the point in its orbit that is closest to Earth. But this month, the full moon and perigee are just under one hour apart, promising spectacular views, depending on local conditions.

Although a full moon theoretically lasts just a moment, that moment is imperceptible to ordinary observation.

During the day or so before and after, most will speak of seeing the nearly full moon as "full," with the actual shaded area of the lunar surface being so narrow – and changing in apparent width so slowly – that it is hard for the naked eye to tell whether it's present, or which side it is.

Supermoon making waves

In addition, the near coincidence of Saturday’s full moon with perigee will result in a dramatically large range of high and low ocean tides.

The highest tides will not, however, coincide with the perigee moon but will actually lag by up to a few days depending on the specific coastal location. For example, in Wilmington, N.C., the highest tide (5.3 feet) will be attained at 11:21 p.m. EDT on March 20.

In New York City, high water (5.9 feet) at The Battery comes at 10:49 p.m. EDT on March 21, while at Boston Harbor, a peak tide height of 12.2 feet comes at 1:31 a.m. EDT on March 22, almost 2 1/2 after perigee.

According to the Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, residents of regions along the shores of the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada, the 10- to 20-foot (3- to 6-meter) swell in the vertical tidal range makes it obvious when the moon lies near perigee, regardless of clear skies or cloudy.

Any coastal storm at sea around this time will almost certainly aggravate coastal flooding problems.

Such an extreme tide is known as a perigean spring tide, the word spring being derived from the German springen – to "spring up," and is not, as is often mistaken, a reference to the spring season.

In contrast, later this year, on October 11, the full moon will closely coincide with apogee, its farthest point from the Earth. In fact, on that night the moon will appear 12.3 percent smaller than it will appear this weekend.

Big full moon's appearance is deceiving

And while this weekend’s moon will be – as the Observer’s Handbook suggests – the "largest full moon of 2011," the variation of the moon's distance is not readily apparent to observers viewing the moon directly.

Or is it?

When the perigee moon lies close to the horizon, it can appear absolutely enormous. That is when the famous “moon illusion” combines with reality to produce a truly stunning view.

For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, a low-hanging moon looks incredibly large when hovering near trees, buildings and other foreground objects. The fact that the moon will be much closer than usual this weekend will only serve to amplify this strange effect.

So … a perigee moon, either rising in the east at sunset or dropping down in the west at sunrise might seem to make the moon appear so close that it almost appears that you could touch it. You can check out this out for yourself by first noting the times for moonrise and moonset for your area by going to this website.

Happy mooning!

Victim's Dad Vows To Murder Child Killer Michael Woodmansee If He Gets Out

Michael Woodmansee was convicted of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1983 for the killing of 5-year-old Jason Foreman.

Rhode Island police, who spent years searching for Foreman's body, eventually found the boy's shellacked skull and bones in Woodmansee's South Kingston home. Woodmansee later confessed to the murder.

To the fury of Foreman's father, Woodmansee, who is now 52, is set to be released from prison in August, 12 years before his prison sentence is complete. He is getting out early for good behavior.

The prospect of an early release has enraged John Foreman, Jason's father.

"I will kill him if he is released," John Foreman told a radio interviewer at ABC News radio affiliate WPRO in Providence this week. "The man is a monster."

Jason's mother, Joice, died in 2000.

The early release is "shocking," Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl told the Providence Journal. McGuirl was a state prosecutor in 1983 and agreed to the plea deal that avoided a trial, which could have handed Woodmansee a life sentence.

"Certainly there would not have been any anticipation of him getting out in 28 years," McGuirl told the paper.

"All of those involved knew that the defendant would be released at some time," a statement from McGuirl read in part. "We discussed with the Foreman family the defendant's possible release on parole or good time. We did not anticipate due to the condition of the defendant that he would be able to earn the maximum good-time credit."

Foreman told WPRO, "He should have gotten a life sentence, but stupidly I allowed a plea bargain to go so I wouldn't have to put up with the agony of hearing all the evidence at the time."

The details of the Woodmansee case are gruesome.

According to police reports, in the spring of 1975 Woodmansee, then 16, lured Jason Foreman into his house where he stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife.

Woodmansee, who lived up the street from the Foreman home, placed the body in a plastic bag and took it into the basement, eventually wrapping the remains in a rug and burying them in a trunk.

Despite one of the largest search details in Rhode Island history, encompassing hundreds of volunteers from several states, years would pass before Foreman's body was found.

source -abcnews

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