# March 19 ''supermoon'' expected to cause massive damage to the earth



## ValiantThor

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110310/sc_space/willmarch19supermoontriggernaturaldisasters


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## nothing to fear

"On March 19, the moon will swing around Earth more closely than it has in the past 18 years, lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles (356,577 kilometers) away. On top of that, it will be full. *And one astrologer believes it could inflict massive damage on the planet*."


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## LALoner

nothing to fear said:


> "On March 19, the moon will swing around Earth more closely than it has in the past 18 years, lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles (356,577 kilometers) away. On top of that, it will be full. *And one astrologer believes it could inflict massive damage on the planet*."


18 years ago was pretty much the best time of my life so I say go for it Moon, bring back the magic.


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## Ramondo

My God! (so to speak). An astrologer thinks something bad will happen? We're doomed!


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## Spindrift

I'm going to get close enough to pee my name in the moon dust.


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## millenniumman75

If anything, I would expect to hear more howling. :stu
We have had a lot of earthquakes and floods, but that is going on now and not then.


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## ValiantThor

this just in......8.9 quake plus tsunami hits japan!....i just woke up to make something to eat cuz im starving and the news is going crazy about it....


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## Neptunus

:doh


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## ValiantThor

i told you. the closer the moons gets, the stronger the pull is on the earth, making the plates shift, causing quakes, tsunamis, chaos...


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## ValiantThor

its the 7th most powerful quake ever. so you still think im crazy?


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## Pangur Ban

Bring it on!!


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## daniel1989

Sounds interesting.


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## King Moonracer

The earthquake is just mother nature saying **** you man. 

Or its just God saying, ok enough of this bull****. 

And im sure something crazy will happen with the moon. 2011 syre has beem a crazy year so far. Every few weeks something crazy happens. Mabe the world needs some
crazy pills


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## Pangur Ban

King Moonracer said:


> The earthquake is just mother nature saying **** you man.
> 
> Or its just God saying, ok enough of this bull****.
> 
> And im sure something crazy will happen with the moon. 2011 syre has beem a crazy year so far. Every few weeks something crazy happens. Mabe the world needs some
> crazy pills


The world is on "Charlie Sheen".

If the world could speak, it would say, "Dude, can't handle it!"


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## Ramondo

ValiantThor said:


> i told you. the closer the moons gets, the stronger the pull is on the earth, making the plates shift, causing quakes, tsunamis, chaos...


The claim was that destruction would occur on March 19 when the moon was at perigee. That's 8 days away. This shifting of the goalposts is how charlatans gain credibility among the credulous. 
If the Japanese earthquake settles down now as the moon gets closer, the reverse of what is predicted will occur - the close moon will have a protective effect. 
Let's wait and see what happens on March 19.

PS: In fact you said nothing at all about "the closer the moon gets..." unless it was in another thread or on another website. The only thing you did was post a link to a prediction (and you did not even endorse it) which relates to March 19.


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## Resonance

"Richard Nolle, a noted *astrologer..."

*Right, an astrologer, so his claims are as valid as a magician telling us the planet is going to vanish into a giant space-tophat at 6:14pm tomorrow evening.

This story is not "science", and could only possibly be interpreted as such if you misread "astrologer" as "astronomist".

"*Astrology* is a set of systems, traditions, and beliefs founded on the notion that the relative positions of celestial bodies can explain or predict fate, personality, human affairs, and other earthly matters."

"*Astronomy* is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the microwave background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe."


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## AussiePea

lol, this has nothing to do with the supermoon.


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## millenniumman75

The supermoon is eight days away.

The 9.1 earthquake in 2004 was not affiliated with an out-of-control moon.

People are going to moon the moon.


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## millenniumman75

max4225 said:


> Sorry about that quake in Japan, that sucks.


With the lack of emotion in text, this was funny.

On a serious note, Japan is known for their earthquakes, but to find out that this 8.9 quake was the worst in their history....and Okinawa is under a nuclear emergency due to a reactor not cooling as it should (this is EXACTLY what happened at Chernobyl in April, 1986 - we'll discuss that in April), this is SCARY!


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## TheRob

Blame plate tectonics for this earthquake, and every other earthquake. My avatar suddenly seems current, though (remember -- run AWAY from the shore in the event of a tsunami).


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## THEuTASTEsOFeINKd

Resonance said:


> "Richard Nolle, a noted *astrologer..."*
> 
> Right, an astrologer, so his claims are as valid as a magician telling us the planet is going to vanish into a giant space-tophat at 6:14pm tomorrow evening.
> 
> This story is not "science", and could only possibly be interpreted as such if you misread "astrologer" as "astronomist".
> 
> "*Astrology* is a set of systems, traditions, and beliefs founded on the notion that the relative positions of celestial bodies can explain or predict fate, personality, human affairs, and other earthly matters."
> 
> "*Astronomy* is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the microwave background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe."


Thank you. Damn these kids and their tricks. :no


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## matt404

Since no one has posted it yet, this is from Phil Plait of "Bad Astronomy" fame:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/b...upermoon-didnt-cause-the-japanese-earthquake/


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## Jnmcda0

Why would a "full" moon have anything to do with it? It's not like part of the moon disappears for most of the cycle. Whether it is a full, waxing, waning, or new moon just depends on the angle of the moon in relation to the sun (from our perspective on Earth). 

If the moon being closer to the Earth at certain times had a big enough effect to cause earthquakes, then it would stand to reason that this would also have a significant effect on the tides. However, we see that the tides aren't majorly impacted by the relatively slight decrease in distance of the Earth and moon during these times.


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## i just want luv

Soooo.. Is there gonna be any side affects?


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## Squirrelevant

matt404 said:


> Since no one has posted it yet, this is from Phil Plait of "Bad Astronomy" fame:
> 
> http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/b...upermoon-didnt-cause-the-japanese-earthquake/


Thanks for the link, I was just wondering what Phil Plait would have to say about this.


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## Ramondo

Jnmcda0 said:


> Why would a "full" moon have anything to do with it?


At a full moon, the sun, moon and earth line up in a 180 degree line, with the earth being in the middle. During a new moon, the same alignment occurs, but the moon is in the middle.

It is the combination of the closeness of the moon and the gravitational effects of such an alignment that makes a so-called 'supermoon'.
[Note, I'm not endorsing any claims about what effect this has.]


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## confidencelost

I think the supermoon causing earthquakes is nonsense. However I would like to say that I find most scientists to be as non-credible as the doomsayers as they also tend to draw conclusions from paper thin "evidence" and present their theories as though they are facts.


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## Ramondo

confidencelost said:


> I think the supermoon causing earthquakes is nonsense. However I would like to say that I find most scientists to be as non-credible as the doomsayers as they also tend to draw conclusions from paper thin "evidence" and present their theories as though they are facts.


How many scientific papers have you read then? When/if you ever read one, you'll find that scientists generally present their findings in very tentative ways, with many qualifications expressed, and suggestions for further research that could confirm or deny their findings. 
Perhaps you're referring to science journalists or lay people who talk about science without a basic understanding of the scientific method, or perhaps science textbooks, which must necessarily be reductive so that students will understand them?
(Of course, if you can refer me to a peer-reviewed scientific journal article that concludes, "This is the immutable truth", please post it, and I'll withdraw my statements and apologise).


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## confidencelost

Ramondo said:


> How many scientific papers have you read then? When/if you ever read one, you'll find that scientists generally present their findings in very tentative ways, with many qualifications expressed, and suggestions for further research that could confirm or deny their findings.
> Perhaps you're referring to science journalists or lay people who talk about science without a basic understanding of the scientific method, or perhaps science textbooks, which must necessarily be reductive so that students will understand them?
> (Of course, if you can refer me to a peer-reviewed scientific journal article that concludes, "This is the immutable truth", please post it, and I'll withdraw my statements and apologise).


You are misunderstanding me _entirely_. You seem to think I am saying that science is hokum; I am not. Last I looked we were talking about the media in this thread, right? Scientists that talk to the media frequently fail to qualify their findings, what is fact, and what is theory because they want to present a strong argument, in layman's terms, to the journalist interviewing them and to the public. It's worse when scientists are asked to present opposing arguments/viewpoints to non-scientific theories. You might retort that it is the media that misrepresents the scientists (which I don't agree with in the vast majority of cases) but I would say it is a moot point because when scientists talk with the media they know their representation, ultimately, is not in their hands.

That is why I feel scientists (to qualify myself fully: scientists who talk to the media) are best viewed as equally non-credible sources of information as anyone else.


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## Ramondo

confidencelost said:


> That is why I feel scientists (to qualify myself fully: scientists who talk to the media) are best viewed as equally non-credible sources of information as anyone else.


Alright, I understand the clarifications you've made. I still believe that scientists who talk to the media are more credible than astrologers and other charlatans that talk to the media. The reason is that the underlying science is available somewhere for inspection, but the smoke and mirrors aren't.


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## CeilingStarer

I can't say either way. I'm just going to sit back and see what happens.


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## Amocholes

Define "Massive damage".

This is a planet. As far as the planet goes, the quake in Japan was like a dog twitching in it's sleep.


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## Cerz

False. 


Nothing will happen, also the guy who says massive damage will occur is an astrologist. An astrologist...


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## sherbert

:no there's very little gravitational pull from the moon; that guy is full of crap.


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## Amocholes

There is sufficient gravitational pull from the moon to lift countless tons of water 4-8 feet twice a day.


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## keithggt

ValiantThor said:


> i told you. the closer the moons gets, the stronger the pull is on the earth, making the plates shift, causing quakes, tsunamis, chaos...


so you believe an orbiting planet 1/9th the size of this planet is going to cause that much havoc. really? IF the moon had that much effect on the earth im pretty sure that the earth would be orbiting the moon and not the other way around. good luck in your ventures.


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## jagmusic

Maybe this will be enough pull to urge the super volcano in the Yellowstone Area to erupt. Probably not though...is anyone else kind of rooting for some action?


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## Sunshine009

Well, that day, 4:03 pm Eastern Standard Time, it will be in libra. The sign of balance. That's one of my favorite moons!


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## OrbitalResonance

Here is a good graphic


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## Cyrus

Moon looks big and bright tonight. Not that it's the 19th yet .


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## JimmyDeansRetartedCousin

Bullhonkey.


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## sleepytime

I'm looking at it right now...meh, i've seen it look bigger before!


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## 390

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> Here is a good graphic


The full moon and lunar perigee roughly coincide about once every year anyway, so there is nothing special at all about this so-called "supermoon". I love how the media are making this out to be a possible "moonageddon/moonpocalypse". :lol


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## beatlesgirl

Took a few photos today and this is the best I've got of the craters... I'm quite happy with it considering the fact that this is my first try! 


















Edit: Oops sorry about the huge image size!!


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## i just want luv

isnt the real thing supposed to be today?
Or did I miss it?


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## jagmusic

I like those pictures!, good detail.  Yeah the moon was nice and bright last night. It was shining right in my window, else it was dark, and made for a most awesome setting/feelings. A sat to look and think for some time.


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## That guy over there

Yeah I can see it tonight in London :boogie it looks brighter than usual and more yellowy


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## THEuTASTEsOFeINKd

beatlesgirl said:


> Took a few photos today and this is the best I've got of the craters...


Nice. The moon is so hard to take a photograph of. Hopefully we don't all die from the catastrophy predicted by the astrologist. :teeth


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## IllusionOfHappiness

From my brother's place out where there's no street lights, it looked huge. When it's completely dark out, he says the moon is so bright it lights up the shed as if the lights were on.


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## purplefruit

wait, it was yesterday? :fall


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## atticusfinch

holy crap, this is making me think of harvest moons...those are so goddamn terrifying- its like a big red fire ball about to crash us all.


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## Neptunus

beatlesgirl said:


> Took a few photos today and this is the best I've got of the craters... I'm quite happy with it considering the fact that this is my first try!


Nice! Thanks for sharing!


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## CeilingStarer

It looked exactly like it always does to me. I've seen it waaay bigger. I don't really get it.


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## room101

Watch out for the super-werewolves too..

:roll


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## Jnmcda0

CeilingStarer said:


> It looked exactly like it always does to me. I've seen it waaay bigger. I don't really get it.


It didn't look very much larger to me, either. As for seeing it way bigger, that is an optical illusion. When the moon or the sun appears on the horizon, it appears bigger than when it is higher in the sky. If you hold a ruler at arms length and measure how big the moon is at the horizon and then do it again when it is high in the sky, you'll see that it is the same size.


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## caflme

It was very bright... my son liked that... I'd told him we would most likely not visually perceive the difference in distance but that it would be way brighter... and it was.


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## melissa75

^ I thought it was much brighter than normal, too. In fact, when I stared at it for a while and looked away, I could still see an image of it from staring at it. But, it wasn't any bigger than what I've seen on occasion in the past.


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## lonelyjew

CeilingStarer said:


> It looked exactly like it always does to me. I've seen it waaay bigger. I don't really get it.


It's the biggest it's been in 18 years so you possibly have. Like a lot of people have said, the actual size difference wasn't perceptibly big since you couldn't directly compare it to what you would normally see, but it definitely did look brighter and clearer last night than it usually does which are a side effect of size difference.


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## Ramondo

ValiantThor said:


> i told you. the closer the moons gets, the stronger the pull is on the earth, making the plates shift, causing quakes, tsunamis, chaos...


So, now that this thread is about to die a natural death, can we all agree that "Richard Nolle, a noted astrologer who runs the website astropro.com" was spectacularly wrong, and that his prediction that "When the moon goes super-extreme, chaos will ensue: Huge storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters can be expected to wreak havoc on Earth." was an *epic fail*, for astrology and charlatanism in general?

Put simply, nothing happened. In fact, from my scanning of the news, there were fewer reported natural disasters in the last three days than there have been in any comparable period all year!

As I write the moon is waning, still 98% Full, and it's no longer 19 March anywhere.


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## purplefruit

My mom was in an apartment last nite and said the moon was amazingly huge close to sundown. I didn't see a thing until 8:30, when it had risen higher than the houses in the neighbourhood, and looked normal-sized albeit a bit brighter. so much for that :lol


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## matt404

Ramondo said:


> So, now that this thread is about to die a natural death, can we all agree that "Richard Nolle, a noted astrologer who runs the website astropro.com" was spectacularly wrong, and that his prediction that "When the moon goes super-extreme, chaos will ensue: Huge storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters can be expected to wreak havoc on Earth." was an *epic fail*, for astrology and charlatanism in general?


Unfortunately, when it comes to this type of thing, people are apt to remember only the "hits" and forget the "misses." For any true believers in astrology or Richard Nolle, I doubt this miss will sway their faith at all.


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## Ramondo

matt404 said:


> Unfortunately, when it comes to this type of thing, people are apt to remember only the "hits" and forget the "misses."


I know. That is the exact reason for my post. The fail has been documented, albeit in an insignificant, out of the way place.


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## i just want luv

Read a blog that said it would be closest at 2pm eastern, so we couldnt really see it anyway cus it was afternoon/ morning 11am west coast.


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## SilentWitness

Definitely explains my hairy palms and freakishly long fingernails. aaawhoooooooooo!!!!


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