March 8 New Supermoon Opens 2016 Supermoon Lineup

Summary: The March 8 new supermoon opens the 2016 supermoon lineup of six supermoons and also hides the sun for March's total solar eclipse.

Usually invisible new moon becomes visible in silhouetted cover of sun during total solar eclipse; viewed over France, total solar eclipse Aug. 11, 1999, with new moon at distance of 232,000+ miles (373,368+ kilometers); March 8, 2016's new supermoon is over 7,200 miles (11,587 kilometers) closer to Earth: Luc Viatour, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The March 8 new supermoon opens the 2016 supermoon lineup and also obscures the sun for the year’s total solar eclipse that occurs, according to time zone location, Tuesday, March 8, or Wednesday, March 9.

The March 8 new supermoon also shares the date with asteroid 2013 TX68’s non-threatening flyby of Earth. Tuesday’s asteroidal approach is NASA’s recalculation of a flyby initially targeted for Saturday, March 5. The asteroid’s unfamiliar trajectory yields a huge estimated range for its March 8 flyby. Farthest distance could measure 9 million miles (14 million kilometers).

Asteroid 2013 TX68’s Tuesday flyby could approach Earth far more closely than the moon ever reaches in lunar orbital nearness to the Earth. Closest distance could bring the asteroid only 11,000 miles (17,000 kilometers) away from Earth. That distance is 21.7 times closer than the moon logs in its closest ever approach.

“The moon is an average of 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away. How far away is that? That’s 30 Earths,” explains NASA’s Space Place.

A supermoon occurs when the new or full moon reaches close or near-close points in the lunar orbit around Earth. The extra nearness to Earth makes the moon appear larger than normal from Earth’s perspective.

From its position between the Earth and the sun, the new moon kicks off the monthly lunar cycle. The full moon occurs midway through the eight-phase lunar cycle. From Earth’s perspective, the moon achieves full illumination with its position on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun.

Six supermoons appear in 2016. The March 8 new supermoon heads the year’s lineup of supermoons and also marks a trio of new supermoons. New supermoons occur subsequently on Saturday, April 7, and Sunday, May 6.

The year’s supermoons transition to full moons, beginning with Tuesday, Oct. 16. Full supermoons distinguish Wednesday, Nov. 14, and Friday, Dec. 14.

The point in each monthly orbit of the Earth by the moon that is closest to Earth is known as perigee, a word derived from Ancient Greek (perí, “near” + gê, “Earth”). The year’s closest of all the monthly closest points is known as proxigee.

November’s full supermoon claims winning status as 2016’s proxigee moon. The full moon on Nov. 14 ranks as the closest-to-Earth supermoon for 2016. The center-to-center distance between Earth and the moon for November’s full supermoon measures 221,524 miles (356, 508 kilometers).

The farthest point in the center-to-center distance between Earth and moon is known as apogee. From Earth’s perspective, the moon appears smaller than usual at its farthest orbital points from Earth. A seemingly small moon is known popularly as a micro moon and scientifically as an apogee moon.

The new moon on Wednesday, Oct. 31, claims status as 2016’s apogee moon. Its center-to-center distance of 252,688 miles (406,662 kilometers) measures the farthest point reached in the moon’s orbit during 2016. Only two weeks later, however, apogee switches to both perigee and proxigee. The difference between 2016’s apogee and perigee amounts to 31,163.6 miles (50,153 kilometers).

The March 8 new supermoon registers a center-to-center nearness of 224,785 miles (361,756 kilometers). The new supermoon claims month’s perigee of 223,557 miles (359,780 kilometers) the next day, March 9.

Its orbital alignment between Earth and sun yields only one percent visibility for the March 8 new supermoon. Silhouetted during the March 8 to 9 total solar eclipse, March’s new supermoon overcomes a new moon’s usual dark invisibility.

March 2016's total solar eclipse takes place during a supermoon: EarthSky @earthskyscience via Twitter March 4, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1999 new moon + total solar eclipse: Luc Viatour, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclipse_1999_4_NR.jpg

March 2016's total solar eclipse takes place during a supermoon: EarthSky (@earthskyscience) via Twitter March 4, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/earthskyscience/status/705815124884459520

For further information:

EarthSky @earthskyscience. "Supermoon total solar eclipse March 8-9." 10 a.m. March 4, 2016. Tweet.
Available @ https://twitter.com/earthskyscience/status/705815124884459520

“How Far Away is the Moon?” NASA Space Place.
Available @ http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-distance/en/

Marriner, Derdriu. "Asteroid 2013 TX68 Could Hug Earth March 5 as Close as 11,000 Miles." Earth and Space News. Feb. 5, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/asteroid-2013-tx68-could-hug-earth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “March 8 to 9, 2016, Total Solar Eclipse Path Crosses Indonesia.” Earth and Space News. Friday, March 4, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/march-8-to-9-2016-total-solar-eclipse.html

McClure, Bruce, and Deborah Byrd. “Supermoons of 2016.” EarthSky. Jan. 5, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-supermoon