patching...
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

National Geographic

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Will 'Super' Super Moon Poke Through The Skies Tonight?

Full moon will be closest to earth in nearly 20 years

  Grab your telescopes and cameras and look to the heavens tonight. That’s when we’re in for another “Super Moon.” Astronomers are saying that this Super Moon will be even more super than usual. “The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993,” Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. told USA Today. This Super Moon (a phrase coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979) will appear especially large because the moment of perigee—when the moon is closest to the Earth in its monthly rotation—will coincide with the appearance of a perfectly full moon, Smithsonian points out. During last year’s Super Moon on March 19, 2011, for comparison, the perigee and full moon were 50 minutes apart. On Saturday …

Poindexter McSmash

10:01 am on Sunday, May 6, 2012

How many hours do you have to lay out under the moon until you get a tan?   more ›

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Winter Solstice: Marking 2011's Shortest Day

Solstice occurred in the early hours of this morning, making today the first day of winter

  The winter solstice occurred this morning, marking the start of winter and the shortest day of the year. As National Geographic explains, ancient people observed that after half a year of slowly creeping along the horizon, the sun appears to rise and set in almost exactly the same spot for several days – hence the word "solstice," which comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “to stand still.” The sun’s winter halt happens around Dec. 21, though the date fluctuates between Dec. 20 and 23. The winter solstice actually occurs at a precise moment. In the northern hemisphere, it’s when the tilt of the hemisphere on the Earth’s axis positions us as far away from the sun as we’ll be all year.  On the east coast of the U.S., the solstice …

Got a Hot Tip?

Patch Picks

 
 

Videos

 

Most Popular Articles

  1. Central Regional Board Of Ed Tables Vote On Uniforms, But With Caveat
  2. 10 Arrested, 140 Pounds of Marijuana Seized in Drug Raids
  3. Central Regional School Board Slated To Vote On School Uniforms Tonight
  4. Comments On Berkeley Township Police Department's Operations Sought
  5. Father Arrested In Bayville in Connection With 4-Year-Old's Fatal Shooting Of 6-Year-Old

PSST! Want to Contribute?

  • Got a hot tip on news you think everyone should know? Tell us.
  • Just married? New baby? Make honor roll? Add an Announcement
  • Organizing that big block party or poetry reading? Put it on the calendar!
  • Have a great photo of your community?
    Add it to Your Neighborhood Gallery.