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Source: Cover News

Cover News reporter Wu Bingqing

August 19th is the 16th day of the eighth lunar month. As the saying goes, "The moon on the 15th is fuller on the 16th." And tonight's moon is not only round, but also very big. In the early morning of August 20th, a "supermoon" will appear in the night sky. Therefore, in the evening of the 19th, everyone can look up at the sky and admire this "fat moon."

The moon's orbit around the earth is an ellipse. Sometimes it is close to us, and sometimes it is far away from us. When it is near, it is larger, and when it is far away, it will appear larger from the earth.

We know that the moon waxes and wanes, which actually has to do with its position - when the moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the earth and their ecliptic longitudes differ by 180 degrees, the moon seen on Earth is the roundest, which is what we call a "full moon."

When the moon moves to the perigee and is full, it is called a "supermoon". Therefore, a supermoon is actually a "perigee full moon".

In fact, supermoons are not rare. "The average interval from one full moon to the next is about 29.5 days, which is more than two days longer than the time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth. Therefore, a supermoon appears once every 13 to 14 months on average," said Liao Kai, director of the Sichuan Astronomy Popular Science Society. Supermoons are also likely to appear during this cycle. "The moon's orbit is not uniform. After one revolution, its position is still very close to the perigee. Therefore, within each cycle, a 'supermoon' may appear again one or two months before or after it."

Therefore, "supermoons" occur at least once or twice a year, and as many as three or four times a year. This year, there are many supermoons - a total of four. The one in the early morning of August 20 is the first "supermoon" of the year. Next, "supermoons" will appear on September 18, October 17, and November 16. The one on September 18 will be the largest full moon of the year, so you can look forward to it.

As for the first "supermoon" of this year, those who are interested may also raise their heads and take a look. At about 7:40 tonight, the moon will emerge from the horizon and rise little by little from the east-southwest direction. This is a good time to enjoy the "supermoon": due to the reference objects on the ground, the naked eye will feel larger. Once the moon rises to a certain height, the naked eye will find it difficult to distinguish the difference.

Tonight, the weather is also very good. Most of the Sichuan Basin is sunny and cloudy, and most of the western Sichuan Plateau and Panzhihua area are also sunny and cloudy, all of which are very suitable for observation.