Perigee-Syzygy Hits East Lansing

Several nights of clear skies have allowed the astronomically-inclined of East Lansing to lately enjoy the evening heavens. Our waning moon is (by definition) recovering from being full. A full moon occurs when the sun, earth, and moon are all lined up. This alignment of the three bodies is called a syzygy (pronounced SIZZ-eh-gee; and a particularly good word to know in Scrabble).

At the same time our moon was full, it was also having its periodic perigee (pronounced PEAR-eh-gee). Perigee is defined as the moon’s closest approach to the earth during its 28-day orbit.

That the full moon of September 8-9 was coincident with perigee was, well, coincidence. (This happens only now and then.) The combination of the full moon and the perigee is called a perigee-syzygy, although the mainstream media prefers to call this a “Supermoon.”

In other local astronomical news, Venus is the morning star visible in the east, while Mars can be seen in the evening in the south-southwest.
 

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