Moon s a balloon but you won t notice

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-1999
Moon s a balloon but you won t notice

An unusual coincidence of circumstances tonight will see the moon move closer to Earth
and shine brighter than at any time in the past 70 years.

The summer solstice, or shortest night of the year, occurs tonight -- at the same time
as the appearance of a full moon.

And the moon's perigee will see its orbit come closer to Earth.

At 10 o'clock tonight (AEDT) the moon will be just 360,000km from Earth -- within 500km
of the closest it has ever come.

The phenomena will cause the full moon to appear slightly bigger -- and the solstice
effect will make it appear slightly brighter.

But professional astronomers are not excited about the visual display, and their advice
is that amateurs will be hard-pressed to notice any difference.

Determined moon-gazers should also note: the weather bureau has forecast cloud over
a wide area of Australia tonight.

AAP RTV vc/jc/sub/jn/sub/msk

KEYWORD: MOON (SYDNEY)

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.