BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy "Supermoon" goes, Earth abides

The Moon was full on Saturday when it was at its nearest to us (perigee). It was a clear night where I am and it was gorgeous.

But all the fuss about disasters was a load of absolute nonsense. Apparently started by the person who predicted that from the 16th to the 22nd, there would be, amongst other things, "a surge in extreme tides" "a rash of moderate-to-severe seismic activity (including Richter 5+ earthquakes" "volcanic eruptions" "powerful storms."

OK. It's the 22nd now. Did you see any of that? Because I sure didn't.

I also poked around the US Geological Survey site. I added up their average annual figures for Richter 5+ earthquakes: 1469. That's about 28 a week. I also looked at the actual quake map for the past week and counted 24 which were between Richter 5-6. (There weren't any larger ones.) So not exactly a surge in earthquake activity.

I mean, honestly, don't we have enough real hazards around us without egotistical doomsayers inventing them?

Thank you Mona! The full moon was beautiful - let's enjoy that we saw it rather than worry!

Here is a picture of the perigee Moon over London's Tower Bridge. A friend of mine took it, thought you might like it. I think it's awesome.