Yes, the Moon is shrinking, but the contraction is virtually imperceptible. However, the Full Moon tonight will be the smallest in angular size (sky span) of the year. So why does the Full Moon this month appear smaller?
Answer: the Moon's orbit is not circular, but elliptical, or slightly elongated.
The Moon is, on average, about 238,000 miles distant from the Earth. However, the key word there is 'average,' as the Moon's distance can vary by thousands of miles depending on where it is in its orbit. At the Moon's farthest point from Earth (apogee, to remember this, recall that 'apogee' and 'apart' both start with the letter 'a'), the Moon is about 253,000 miles distant. At perigee (closest), the Moon comes about 15,000 miles closer to Earth. While this may not seem much in the scale of space, the difference as seen from Earth is noticeable.
How noticeable?
When seen side by side, Full Moons at both orbital extremes are, without any doubt, different in angular size as seen from Earth. The August Full Moon will be very close to apogee, thus, it will appear to be the smallest Full Moon of the year. For the record, January's Full Moon was very near perigee and was the year's largest.
So, why not head out tonight and see the tiny Full Moon?
Clear skies to all!
The full story:
Space.com
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