Science and Health

Moon and Earth closest encounter in 19 years

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-03-10 15:06

Tidal forces between the moon and the Earth have slowed the moon's rotation so that one side of the moon always faces toward our planet. Though several spacecraft have imaged the far side of the moon before, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is providing new details region. This image, taken by instruments onboard LRO, highlights the moon's topography, with the highest elevations up above 20,000 feet in red and the lowest areas down below 20,000 feet in blue. [Photo/NASA]

The moon is about to witness its closest encounter with the Earth since 1992 on March 19 this year, according to a report on Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site of SPACE.com.

The two planets will be just 356,577 kilometers (221,567 miles) apart, leading one astrologer to predict the so-called "extreme super moon" may inflict earthquakes and volcanoes

The report lists previous "extreme super moons" in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005 when extreme weather events happened more frequently.

But one expert with International Center for Radio Astronomy Research, Pete Wheeler disagreed, arguing that the Earth would only get a higher flow and lower ebb, but nothing extraordinary when the moon is closest to the Earth.

Australian astronomer David Reneke agreed with Pete Wheeler, saying that "skeptics will always find reasons to relate groundless near the Moon theories with natural disasters."