At 11:23 PM 12/11/99 -0500, Larry Bohlayer wrote:
>....In lay-mans terms it will be a super bright full moon, much more than the
>usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years! Our ancestors 133
>years ago saw this. Our descendents 100 or so years from now will see this
>again.
>
> Dr. Robert E. Murphy
The combination of a full moon, lunar perigee, and winter solstice on the
same date is unusual, but it *almost* happened in other two recent years
at the following dates and Universal Times:
Dec 1999 Dec 1991 Dec 1980
Full Moon 22, 18h 21, 10h 21, 18h
Perigee 22, 11h 22, 9h 19, 5h
Solstice 22, 8h 22, 9h 21, 17h
Also, the moon was closer to earth on 1912 Jan 4 and 1893 Dec 23 than in
*either* 1866 or 1999. This is covered in Jean Meeus's Astronomical
Algorithms, page 332.
-- Roger at S&T
