ALBAWABA - Saudi Arabia and the Arab world shall witness the full moon of Muharram, and it will represent the second giant full moon and the closest so far in the year 2023, and it will be visible all night.
An explanation was given by the head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Engineer Majid Abu Zahra. Abu Zahra said that the term "Supermoon" is used whether the moon is in the new moon or the full moon phase when the distance between the center of the moon and the center of the Earth is within 362,146 km, and that the scientific name is Badr al-Nahd, meaning that the moon is in it's nearest point from the Earth.
The term "Supermoon"
Supermoon is a term that refers too to an astronomical phenomenon where a full moon looks larger and brighter than usual.
As fun as the term sounds, it does tend to give people wrong impressions, as it makes them think maybe that a Supermoon looks much bigger than just a regular full moon we see every month, but the reality is that to the naked eye, there won't be much of a difference between regular and supermoon.
The State of the Supermoon
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Abu Zahra added that the nearest Supermoon will rise after sunset from the southeastern horizon, and it will be orange because of the components of the atmosphere around the Earth that will scatter the white light reflected from the moon, and the colors of the blue spectrum will disperse and the colors of the red spectrum will remain, but after its rise and distance from the horizon, it will appear the usual white silver.
According to Abu Zahra, the moon is set to arrive at 09:31 pm Mecca time (06:31 pm GMT). During its near perigee, it will be at a distance of 357,528 km, resulting in an apparent size approximately 14% larger and illumination around 30% brighter than when it is at its farthest distance (Apogee) from Earth.
If we were to compare this Supermoon with most of the average moons, its apparent size will be 7% larger and its illumination will be 15% more, so the differences are not very large and could go unnoticed by most.
The Effects of the Supermoon on Earth
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According to Abu Zahra, the impact of the Supermoon will be limited to tidal phenomena, which is a regular occurrence. During every full moon, the Earth, Moon, and Sun align, causing significant tides, with exceptionally high and low tides occurring on the same day. As the full moon coincides with the perihelion point, the tide will result in a perihelion high tide. Otherwise, there will be no significant effect on the world.
