“Supermoon” activity which is held by Istanbul University Amateur Astronomers Club was done in IU Astronomy and Space Sciences Department. İn 14 November 2016.

The activity started with the speech of Prof. Dr. Tansel Ak, who is the Head of Astronomy and Space Sciences Deparment in IU Faculty of Science. Prof. Dr. Ak said: “There is an astronomic event that was observed in the years of 1948-2016 and is expected to be observed again in 2034. This event we called Supermoon is one of the events that has drawn attentions throughout the human history.”

In the activity, IU Faculty of Science Academic Member Prof. Dr. Adnan Ökten gave a seminar named “Earth’s Satellite Moon”. Prof. Dr. Ökten, who implies that Supermoon was observed previously in 1948, indicated that in this event which can be defined as the time when the moon is the closest to the Earth the distance shortened by 365 thousand. Prof. Dr. Ökten, who started his speech by saying that when the moon reaches this proximity, its observed diameter expands, reported that Supermoon created a scarlet image in the first rising moment and this allowed great datum in terms of comparison with houses and trees. He added that when it was getting higher, it lost the attractiveness.

We Can Forecast the Observation Dates

Prof. Dr. Ökten, who mentions that Supermoon will be able to be observed again in 25 November 2034, said: “ We know when or where it is in its orbit. We make some calculations and tables about it. When we line outputs, we can see the distance.” Prof. Dr. Ökten indicated that the orbit of the Moon and the orbit of the earth do not overlap, and therefore there is no regular interval between the observation dates of these two, and said “There is no regular period”.

Prof. Dr. Ökten stated that if we were to look at the locations of the earth and the moon, we would expect solar and lunar eclipses, however it is not the case. Then he said, “According to the local time, today at 16.52, the moon will be closest to the Earth. We are experiencing a full moon. If we are to explain why there was not an eclipse, we need to refer to the fact that the moon’s orbit is inclined to the earth’s orbit by about 5 degrees. Since the moon does not enter the area that it actually should have entered, this eclipse does not occur.”

Earthquakes are Absolutely Coincidental

Contrary to popular belief, the full moon does not cause earthquakes, he stated and continued, “We do not link these two incidents together. We need scientific data to do so. We can only say that it is a coincidence. This is because earthquakes constantly occur on the surface of the earth.”

Supermoon Activity that attracted academic members, students, media members and lots of other guests, continued with the observing of the moon. The moon completed the full moon phase at 18.52 and afterwards it reached its closest to the earth. The incident, which is expected to reoccur in 2034, ended with the great interest of the participants.

Story: Neslihan KALKAN, Tuğçe AYÇİN, Hande Nur OCAK

Translated by İrem YAŞAR and Eda AYDEMİR