“Super moon” due this weekend
Vietnamese people will have the opportunity to admire the super moon phenomenon this weekend, when the moon is closest to the Earth in the year.
Dang Tuan Duy from the Ho Chi Minh City Club of Amateur Astronomers (HAAC) said the full moon will take place at 18h34 (Hanoi time) on June 23.
The full moon coincides with the time it moves to the perigee to the Earth, at a distance of 356,989 km, so the observers will see the moon bigger than normal.
Experts said that this will be the best and the brightest full moon of 2013 and this will only repeat in August 2014.
When the super moon takes place, the moon looks bright and larger than normal, especially when it grows in the eastern horizon after sunset, or the atmospheric conditions are favourable for observation.
The moon will be about 12-14 percent larger at perigee position and up to 30 percent brighter than normal full moon, said Duy.
It is said that the event that the full moon coincides with perigee position will affect climate patterns on the Earth. However, many scientists deny this.
Scientists said the super moon will not cause any geological event, it will only make some differences for the up and down of the tide. If it resonates with certain weather conditions, then maybe it will cause some problems in the coastal areas.