fEATURE ARTicle

Observing the Super Moon

An Astronomy Communicator's Dilemma
Jayant Gangopadhyay and Manash Bagchi

T
HE real motion of the Moon around the dynamic Earth But it would be wrong to think that Earth sits in the
is quite complicated. To understand its motion we intersection of these two axes (called the centre of the ellipse).
assume an Earth-centric view and keep the Earth stable Actually, there are two special points on the major axis,
and static at a fixed point in that model. When we do that the equidistant from the centre. They are called the foci (in the
Moon appears to revolve around us in a near-circular, but the plural, one is a focus or focal point). If we imagine a mirror
precisely-elliptical path we call its orbit. strip of 6 centimetre width shaped in the form of the ellipse,
In doing so, when the Earth comes between the Moon and move a light source along its major axis, we will observe
and Sun, we see the full disc of the Moon and call it Full that at one particular position, there comes an image along the
Moon. But once in a while (not quite infrequently) it shows opposite end on the same axis. Light rays from the source at
its full face when it is also at the nearest point to the Earth. the point after getting reflected from the mirror strip converge
Our ancients probably observed the variation of the brightness at another point on the major axis. These two points on the
quite discernibly as the light pollution did not mar their moon- major axis are called the foci (singular focus, we told). Thus
view and they immortalized it in folklore by countless names there are two foci of an elliptical Moon orbit. Earth is at one
– Blood Moon, Pink Moon, Blue Moon. But yes, no matter of the foci (Figure 2).
by what name you call it, it is the same old Moon in its Full
Moon Phase with little variation of brightness that is difficult
to distinguish these days as the Moon has to compete now
with countless urban light sources.
The Moon revolves around the Earth in an orbit inclined
to that of the Earth at an angle of 5.145 degrees. The Moon
orbit is not a perfect circle, but has a slight eccentricity,
meaning the orbit is oval or elliptical in shape. That is, the
orbit is asymmetric in nature and has two axes of symmetry.
This can be easily visualized by folding an oval sheet of paper
so that opposite ends exactly overlap. If somebody tries this,
she will find that the same can be done in two ways. One fold
will be longer than the other. The larger line of fold is called Figure 2
the major axis and the shorter one, the minor axis (Figure 1).
So, as Moon revolves around the Earth and crosses
the point of intersection of the major axes with the orbit,
two situations arise. In one case it is the nearest to Earth
and in the other case, it’s at the farthest. The nearest point
is called perigee and the furthest point is called apogee.
Precise observations and estimates peg the value of apogee at
4,06,692 kilometres and perigee at 3,56,907 kilometre. This
cycle repeats every month. Thus every month, the moon is
once at apogee and then at perigee.
But this does not indicate that at each perigee or apogee,
the Earth is exactly in the Sun-Moon line. The Moon linearity
with Sun occurs at various Earth-Moon distances. So, the size
of the full moon varies (Figure 3).
As Moon revolves around the Earth, the portion of the
illuminated Moon’s disc visible from Earth varies. The sun’s
light always illuminates the near side (Moon-face turned to the
Sun) of the Moon. So, if we travel in a spacecraft, far from the
Figure 1 Earth-Moon system, the near side of the Moon will always be

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 Figure 3 Figure 5

illuminated. Since we are located on Earth, partial obstruction natural that when the Moon is at its furthest distance from the
of the Moon disc occurs. The variation in the visibility of Earth, its angular disc reduces to 29.42 arc minutes. When the
the illuminated Moon’s disc is called its phase. So, if we see Moon comes to Perigee, its angular size becomes 33.37 arc
nothing of the illuminated part, it is called the new moon and minutes (Figure 5).
if we see fully the illuminated part, it is called the full moon. Now, as the area of a reflective surface increases, its
In between a quarter is called crescent, half-illuminated phase luminosity increases. So, it naturally follows that if the full
is called the first quarter and three-fourth illuminated phase is moon occurs, when the moon is located at perigee, its angular
called gibbous (Figure 4). size and luminosity both increase. Nowadays, it’s fashionable
It is conventional to measure the visible disc of the Moon to call this particular event as Super Moon. Occasionally
in angular measure (that is in degrees – minutes – seconds). it may so happen that two full moons occur in a particular
So, the angular size of the full moon disc varies. Thus, it is month, and then it is labelled as a Blue Moon.

Figure 4

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 On 7 April 2020 at 23 hours 39 minutes, the Moon was too much or the wrong sort of light can cause problems with
at perigee or nearest point in its orbit around the Earth. It set glare.
at 6:26 am on 8 April 2020 from Kozhikode (Kerala, India). There are two types of glare: discomfort glare and
Terminator is a term used to indicate the demarcation disability glare. Discomfort glare occurs when a light source
between the illuminated and dark portions of the Moon. If is just too strong for our eyes. It may cause us to shade our
we use a telescope to observe the Moon when it is at its tears; it can even cause us to close our eyes. It makes us want
phase between crescent and gibbous, it is really rewarding to look away from the light source because it is uncomfortable
experience. We see mountains, low lands called maria and to look at, but it doesn’t cause a reduction in vision.
impacted landmass called craters. Disability glare reduces how well we can see. Disability
How about observing a full-moon using a telescope say glare can be caused by eye conditions and can occur with
of aperture of 8 inches to 11 inches? [Or 203.2 mm to 279.4 ordinary light sources and levels of light. Disability glare
mm aperture by convention. Aperture of small and medium doesn’t necessarily cause discomfort but can reduce how
telescopes are measured in inches, i.e. in FPS system rather much detail we can see. This type of glare generally reduces
than in CGS system]. contrast, making it difficult to distinguish objects.
But before that let’s recount how light is used by our eyes Thus, our eye’s pupil diameter ranges from 4 mm to 8
to see. This will set the stage for further discussions about light mm (i.e., 0.157 inch to 0.315 inches). So, by observing the
sensitivity. Now, light reflects off objects in your vicinity and Moon using a telescope of 8 inches to 11 inches, on average
enters the front of your eye where it encounters a thin veil of we allow 1220 times more light to enter our eye. In case of
tears. The cornea is behind the tear veil, and its job is to focus observing full moon using an 11 inches telescope, the glare
the light toward the back of the eye. The light passes through thus created will be highly uncomfortable and many of the
the aqueous humour, then the pupil which adjusts in size to lunar features will be washed out due to its high luminosity.
control the amount of light that passes through. The lens So, why was there so much fanfare and adrenalin rush
focuses the light and adjusts the shape depending on whether around a super moon event? Truly speaking, astronomers
the object is near or far. By this time, the light has reached the don’t mind it; serious amateurs go to rest during these nights.
centre of the eye, which contains a gel-like substance called They hunt for deep-sky objects, messier objects, comets,
the vitreous. The retina and its photoreceptors at the back of asteroid occultation and so on.
the eye send light through nerve fibres to the optic nerve. A moon observation using a telescope is worth when
Finally, the light signal arrives at the visual centre of the the Moon is between its crescent and three-fourth. The
brain, where we process the “images” we see. demarcation between the illuminated and dark region on the
This process is even more impressive when you consider Moon, called the terminator, is sharp. Focusing our view near
how fast it happens in real-time — like how eyes can register the terminator gives us the best view of the lunar features.
40 meters per second fastballs in milliseconds. Because there
are so many steps to the process, different areas of the eye
could be the cause of light sensitivity and the photophobia
could be a symptom of another health condition.
Light sensitivity is where the light level in the environment
is too bright and causes discomfort. For some people, this
discomfort can be extreme and can further reduce their usable
vision.

So, what should we mortals do whenever a Super Moon

event happens? Simply see the moon in all its glory and enjoy
its beauty with the naked eye and if you so wish, click an
image or two for memory. It is soft, flattish, a silvery blob –
still surreal.
For some people, discomfort can be extreme and
can further reduce their usable vision
Jayant Gangopadhyay ([email protected]) is Senior Technical
Glare is where bright or reflected light can affect our Officer and Manash Bagchi ([email protected]) is Curator
ability to see or is uncomfortable to look at. Many people and Project Coordinator, Regional Science Centre & Planetarium,
with low vision need more light than usual to read. However, Jafferkhan Colony, Calicut-673006, Kerala

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