[image: Beginn_des_Weltunterganges.jpg]
*Ragnarok:* *The End of All Things*
Have you noticed how something as terrestrial as the climate can influence
something as ethereal as the mythological realm? Regard, for instance, the
Greco-Roman mythological sphere in which the ageless Olympians know nothing
but mid-May: luxuriant growth, abundant warmth; and fresh aether redolent
of every intoxicating fragrance. A verdant spring that will never devolve
into a desiccated autumn. Provided that no Huns or Goths ever manage to
insinuate themselves into this idyllic world, the congenial climate will
persist in perpetuity. The Nordic mythological realm, conversely, is far
more convulsive than congenial: shaken by the same fierce gales and
land-shattering upheavals that assail upper Earth's fur-clad warriors.
The other contrast pertains to duration. Whereas the Greco-Roman Olympians
smugly expect the Universe to persist without interruption, all those who
populate the Nordic mythological Universe are keenly aware that the bitter
end, in which all things -including the gods- will be cast asunder is
inevitable. Moreover, the whole world, itself, will succumb to a universal
deluge. They refer to this inevitable end as Ragnarok.
While the arrival of Ragnarok is uncertain, we do know what will transpire
when it occurs. First, and perhaps most disturbingly, all beings, from the
lowliest creatures to the loftiest gods will become embroiled in a civil
war. Brother will slay brother; daughter will slay father and mother will
murder son. Fimvulveter, a protracted winter, will commence. According to
some, this winter will persist for three years; according to others, it
will last for thirty. The wolves Skoll and Hati, both of whom even now
pursue the Sun and moon, respectively, will capture and devour them. The
Gods will invade Valhalla; the sea will rise to subsume the land as
Yggdrasil, the world tree on which the Universe is balanced, trembles and
splinters.
[image: dddyi3v-10b940d9-7d02-4ed7-b7f6-7aba79788f0e.jpg]
*Skoll and Hati*
Surt will command the legions of fire demons across the rainbow bridge
which the flames will consume. Surt's flaming sword will usurp the Sun's
position and eventually even the mightiest god Odin shall perish, consumed
by the ferocious giant wolf Fenrir. Soon after Odin's demise, his son
Vidar will come forth and rip Fenrir's jaw open, causing blood to mix with
the rising waters. Without Odin's protection, Surt's flames will destroy
all those who survived the civil strife: elves, dwarves, birds, beasts,
men, women, children and gods. Or, almost all....
When the waters finally recede, a new Sun and moon shall replace the old.
Two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, who had found shelter in Yggdrasil's roots
and survived by drinking morning dew, will arise to replenish the human
race. The world will be born anew; gods will ascend, humans will thrive;
elves and dwarfs and all such mystical creatures will take form in the
forest hollows and lush glens of the resurrected world. All will be
as it once was and yet, even in this latest iteration, another catastrophic
collapse will occur and the cycle will begin again.....
THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
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Founded January 1970
Julian Date: 2459303.18
2020-2021: CII
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, March 29, 2021
Exploratorium XXXIV: Super Worm Moon
Location
Earth-moon system
Time
Yesterday
It has happened again. A Super Moon . Or, more specifically, a Super
Worm Moon. As the name is somewhat confusing, we've decided to steer the
Exploratorium all the way back to yesterday to investigate.*
First: a "super moon" can only be a full moon, which occurs when the moon
is at opposition: at the far side of Earth relative to the Sun. A full
moon occurs every 29.5 days, a time period known as a *synodic month*.
[image: full-moon-opposite-sun-1-Bob-King-e1535885283740.jpg]
The moon appears full when it is at opposition, or on the far side of Earth
relative to the Sun. When at opposition, Earth observers see all of the
moon's illuminated area. Approximately 29.5 days separate successive full
moons.
Most full moons are not super moons, of course. A super moon can only
occur when the moon is full around the same time that it reaches perigee,
its closest distance to Earth during a given orbit. The time period
separating successive perigees, known as an *anomalistic month*, is
approximately equal to 27.6 days.
[image: perigee-apogee-brian-koberlein-cp.jpg]
This diagram shows the difference between a perfect circle, represented by
dashes, and the moon's orbit, represented by a solid line. One can see
that the difference between perigee and apogee is slight. The moon's
mean *orbital
eccentricity*, defined as the orbit's departure from circularity, is
0.0549. The orbit would be a perfect circle if the eccentricity was equal
to zero. As the eccentricity is only slighter greater than zero, the
moon's orbit is almost circular.
As the synodic period does not equal the anomalistic period, full moons
generally do not occur when the moon is at or near perigee. This month,
the moon was full on March 28th and will be at perigee on March 30th.
Although the full moon date does not precisely coincide with that of
perigee, the two events are close enough to make March's full moon a
"Supermoon."
A supermoon is merely one that appears brighter and larger than other full
moons simply as a consequence of its relative closeness. As one can
observe from the above diagram, the difference between the perigee and
apogee distance is relatively slight. However, the perigee moon
(supermoon) is 14% larger and 30% brighter than an apogee moon, called a
"micromoon."
[image: supermoon-micromoon.png]
So, how close do the dates of perigee and opposition need to be in order to
produce a supermoon? Here, we turn, remarkably, to an astrologer named
Richard Noelle, the fellow who coined the term 'supermoon." According to
his definition, a supermoon is one that occurs when the full moon is within
90% of its perigee distance. Ironically, that would mean that the
March full moon is NOT a supermoon at all, according to Noelle. He lists
only two full moons in 2021 as supermoons; those that occur on April 27,
2021 and May 26, 2021.
However, Fred Espenak, one of the most highly regarded of all Solar-lunar
astronomers, cites the March full moon as the first supermoon of 2021. He
also adds the April and May events as well as the moon on June 24, 2021.
Let's regard the distances of these four full moons:
Full moon (March 28, 2021): 225,042 miles; 362,170 km
Full moon (April 27, 2021): 222,212 miles; 357,615 km
Full moon (May 26, 2021): 221,851 miles; 357,462 km
Full moon (June 24, 2021): 224,652 miles; 361,558 km
The 90% rule would restrict supermoons to occurring when the moon is less
than 360,000 km from Earth, thus eliminating the March and June events.
The March full moon occurs when the moon is at the 88% point. However,
because Fred Espernak includes the March full moon as a supermoon, most
other sources refer to it as a supermoon as well. As we can determine
from the above information, the March full moon will be the fourth closest
full moon of the year. The closest occurs in May.
The "worm" part merely refers to the March full moon, which is often called
the "full worm moon" because during this time of year worms will often
emerge from the thawing soil. Hence, "Super Worm Moon," a term one will
not often hear.
*Although the expression, "all the way back" might seem a bit sarcastic, it
isn't. By conventional means of travel, yesterday is much farther away
from us than the most distant galaxy in the Perseus Supercluster.
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