MUSCAT: Thought you've missed the supermoon?
Officially, for Muscat, the GCC and Middle Eastern states, the supermoon is actually happening tonight, April 8. And it is the biggest supermoon of 2020.
While in some parts of the world the full moon happened on April 7, Oman will not have its full moon until 6:35PM tonight and will moon set at around 6AM the next morning.
Check out Nasa's Sky Calculator (adjust to Middle Eastern Time):
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html?cal=2020#skycal
A supermoon happens when the moon is the nearest or closest point to the Earth at the same time that it is full making it look larger and brighter in the sky. With NASA's definition, while in some parts of the world they were witnessing the supermoon, Oman wasn't.
Nasa explained that the supermoon appears larger than other full moons because it orbits in an ellipse that brings it closer to and farther from Earth.
"At its closes point, it is 226,000 miles from Earth and the full Moon appears about 17% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest Moon of the year," the organisation explained.
Nasa also said that "the moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Monday night through Thursday morning."
So why is this supermoon also called Pink Moon?
The Pink Moon does not necessarily mean that the moon will become reddish or pinkish. It got this description because in some parts of the world, pink flowers start to appear in fields during this month.
If you've watched yesterday's moon and thought you're witnessing a supermoon, now you can have a do-over. For those who didn't know, this is your chance to catch it. Without leaving your homes, of course.
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