Lunar science

Millions of people in Tokyo received a loud alert Friday that a "strong" earthquake was about to hit -- but it proved to be a false alarm apparently triggered by geological chance./dailysabah

Text messages and whooping alarms were sent to the phones of millions in and around the Japanese capital, warning: "A quake has occurred off Ibaraki. Prepare for strong jolts."

The first ‘supermoon’ of 2018 was visible in Istanbul late on Jan. 1, giving locals an up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter view of the moon. ‘Supermoons’ occur when a full moon approximately coincides with the moon’s perigee, or with a point in its orbit that is closest to earth.

Supermoon brightens up Istanbul skies

The December full moon will approach the planet tonight (December 3) for the very first and unfortunately last supermoon event of the year.

The spectacular rare sighting will see the full moon swell up to 14 per cent in size and grow brighter by as much as 30 per cent.

The Moon, long thought to be a dry, inhospitable orb, hosts surprisingly large sub-surface water reserves, which one day may quench the thirst of lunar explorers from Earth, scientists said on July 24.

"We found the signature of the lunar interior water globally using satellite data," Shuai Li, co-author of a study by scientists at Brown University in the United States, said.

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake shook the western province of Çanakkale early on Feb. 7, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).       

No damages have been reported after the quake, centered beneath the Aegean Sea, hit the coastal province at 05:24 (02:24 GMT), at a depth of 6.6 kilometers (4 miles), the agency said.        

The biggest and brightest full moon in nearly 70 years has lit up skies across the world.
Stargazers were treated to the spectacular ‘supermoon’ where it appeared 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than usual.
The event, described as “undeniably beautiful” by US space agency Nasa, is the result of the Moon coming closer to Earth than it has done since 1948.

The full moon rises over the Parthenon in Athens Monday. The splendid supermoon - whose technical name is perigee-syzygy of the Earth-moon-sun system insist - was the biggest in the last 68 years, according to scientists, who say that the last time the moon was this close to Earth was in January 1948 and that the next time will not roll around again until November 2034.

The first photos of the super-moon across the world were uploaded on social media and they were impressive. Those who got a glimpse of the rare phenomenon were more than compensated from the amazing images of the earth’s bright satellite over the weekend in Greece.

In a week from today, the moon will be at its closest to earth since January 1948.

“The full moon of November 14 is not only the closest full moon of 2016,” says NASA, “but also the closest full moon to date in the 21st century.”