“The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me,” wrote Blaise Pascal as he peered into the sky whose secrets Galileo was just beginning to reveal. These days, however, the universe has been quite chatty and has told us some nice things. Thus, after the interstellar photos of the James-Webb space telescope, a “supermoon” – this time visible to the naked eye and by ordinary mortals – illuminated the night from Wednesday to Thursday, from 10:23 p.m.
It is true that it was already the third “supermoon” of the year, but it especially delighted Internet users and photographers, as evidenced by the images that the latter shared on social networks.
A wonder that can be explained.
The wonder would not be complete without some elements of explanation. A “supermoon” is a moon that appears larger and brighter than usual. In this case, as indicated here West of FranceLast night’s moon was 14% larger and 30% brighter than normal, statistics that made it one of the largest since 1948, according to The world.
In fact, we should see the conjunction of two phenomena: a full moon, which rises preferably in a clear sky, and a greater proximity of the orbit of our star with the earth.
In fact, the lunar trajectory does not describe a perfect loop but rather an elliptical movement. The distance between our satellite and the ground of the cows also varies, between 405,000 and 355,000 kilometers as we underlined on Wednesday on our plate. Thus, during the last night, the moon came within 357,000 kilometers of the earth.
When the moon reaches this degree of proximity, it is said to pass its perigee, hence the scientific and official name of the event, remembered here by Geo: the “perigee-syzygia”. Easier to use, more attractive to the ear, it is however the expression “supermoon” that has prevailed. It derives from the vocabulary of the American astrologer Richard Nolle, who spoke of “large moon” from 1979.
The “supermoon” is not such a rare event – this third edition of 2022 is about to be followed by a fourth on August 11 – each one given a nickname, linked to its hue or when it occurs. After the “super blood moon”, the “super strawberry moon”, this time came the “super thunder moon”, a lightning wink to a month of July, which is one of the hottest and above all the most unstable of the year. due to its storms.
From heaven to Avignon
Fortunately, however, the weather was good last night and allowed the curious to enjoy it in optimal conditions, as evidenced by the few images below.
Radiant, the “supermoon” appeared to some in the midst of a bluish halo.
It also illuminated the night of the Avignon Festival, enthroned above the Palais des Papes.
Until sunrise
Still visible at dawn, it accompanied early risers on their way to work on Thursday.
View from another place
Of course, the “supermoon” is not a French exclusive, and this spectacular photo below was taken in Positano on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy.
During its journey, the “supermoon” has also crossed all other latitudes, and we have seen it, for example, here, over Guangzhou, China.
It still whitened the night in Dubai, noted this AFP photographer.
A very “supermoon” July 14
But one news follows the other. As I illustrated the snapshot of our journalist Roselyne Dubois, cette “super lune” at the same time as sa lumière les derniers préparatifs du 126e regiment d’infanterie avant son défilé sur les Champs-Elysées à l’occasion de ce 14- July.
A military parade that promises to be just as impressive, although more realistic.
Source: BFM TV
