See if you can see the Super Moon over Bulgaria on December 3
The night of December 3 2017 offers the first of a succession of Super Moons in a few weeks, to be followed by one on January 2 and another on January 31 – but though theoretically it should be visible around the world, will you be able to see it over Bulgaria?
That depends on where you are, under the Bulgarian winter skies.
In the capital Sofia, prospects are not that good, though on the morning of December 3, the forecast was for clear skies between 9pm and 1am. Seeing is believing.
Plovdiv’s prospects were poorer, for partly cloudy to cloudy skies throughout the night. At the Black Sea, Varna was hardly better off, also facing cloudy skies, along with a spot of rain at about 7pm.
Rousse, Bulgaria’s main Danube River city, is set to open the evening with fog at 6pm, followed by cloudy skies with rain at about 2am.
Among Bulgaria’s major cities, the best place to be to see the Super Moon would be Bulgaria’s second-largest Black Sea city Bourgas, which is forecast to have clear skies between 8pm to 2am.
The Super Moon on the night of December 3 is 2017’s parting gift, the year’s only full Super Moon.
A Super Moon, when the moon appears to be larger than usual, happens when a new or full moon occurs with the moon at or near, within 90 per cent of, its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit.
In other words, a Super Moon happens when the moon is at its perigree, a point 90 per cent or closer to its closest approach to Earth. Or, if you prefer, a time when the moon and the Earth are less than 361 863km apart.
The full moon Super Moons in 2019 include one on January 21 (357 715km), another on February 19 (356 846km) and on March 21 (360 772km).
(Photo: Nasa)
