Supermoon 2012

This Saturday, May 5, the full moon may appear a little larger than usual: it will be a supermoon. A “supermoon” occurs when the full moon for the month coincides with the moon’s perigree, or closest approach to Earth for the year. The moon will become completely full at precisely 11:35 p.m. EDT, and it will appear 16 percent brighter than it normally does.

Upcoming Astronomical Events

April 2012:
15: Saturn at opposition
18: Mercury at its greatest western elongation
22: Mercury passes 2.1 degrees from Uranus
22: Lyrids meteor shower peak
23-29: Astronomy Week
28: Astronomy Day

May 2012:
4: Space Day
5: Eta Aquarids meteor shower peak
20: Annular solar eclipse (visible in the western United States)
22: Mercury passes 0.4 degrees from Jupiter

June 2012:
1: Mercury passes 0.1 degrees from Venus
4: Partial lunar eclipse (visible in the United States at moonset)
5: Transit of Venus across the sun (partly visible in the United States at sunset)
17: Moon occults Jupiter
21: Summer solstice, 11:11 UT (7:11 p.m. EDT)
29: Pluto at opposition

July 2012:
1: Mercury at its greatest eastern elongation
5: Earth at aphelion
15: Moon occults Jupiter
20: Moon occults Mercury
27: Dawn leaves asteroid Vesta for Ceres

August 2012:
6: Mars Science Laboratory (MLS) landing
6: Southern Iota Aquarids meteor shower peak
11: Moon occults Jupiter
12: Perseids meteor shower peak
13: Moon occults Venus
15: Venus at its greatest western elongation
16: Mercury at its greatest western elongation
17: Mars passes 2.9 degrees from Saturn
24: Neptune at opposition


Other Local Earthly Events:
Apr. 12: Sidewalk Astronomy at the UNH Observatory
July 29 - Aug. 3: Gordon Research Conference on radiation chemistry, Andover, NH
July 30 - Aug. 3: Black Hole Feedback workshop, Hanover, NH

As Many Planets as Stars

Kepler is observing more than 100,000 stars at a time for signs of exoplanets. Exoplanets orbit stars other than our own sun.

However, the spacecraft’s specific mission is to search for other planets within our Milky Way galaxy, particularly those in the “habitable zone,” which have the potential to support life because they resemble Earth in regards to their size and distance from the sun.

Kepler has found over 700 confirmed exoplanets, but just discovered the three smallest exoplanets yet. Orbiting a star, KOI-961, these three new planets are rocky, and the smallest is about the size of Mars at 0.57 times the size of Earth.

There are probably many more exoplanets in our galaxy, based on a new statistical study from NASA. According to the study, there is, on average, at least one planet for every star in the galaxy.

Since there are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, astronomers are saying that there are a minimum of 100 billion planets in our galaxy—perhaps adjusting our expectations of our galaxy.

The study furthermore estimates that, because scientists believe there are more Earth-like exoplanets than there are easier-to-detect Jupiter-type planets, there are about 10 billion rocky planets out there that are like Earth.