Largest supermoon of 2020 rises while world battles COVID-19
Supermoons occur when the moon is within 90% of perigee -- which is its closest approach to earth in orbit. The moon will appear brighter and bigger in the night sky.
FollowNew York: The largest, brightest supermoon of 2020 rose in the night sky on Tuesday over hushed cities, stilled factories and countries in lockdown due to the novel coronavirus that has killed tens of thousands worldwide, reported Reuters.
If the moon is within 10% of its closest distance to the earth at the moment of full moon, it is considered to be a supermoon, according to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
April’s full moon will be the closest supermoon of 2020, and it is also known as the ‘Pink Moon’ after the pink flowers that start to appear in the fields this month in some places.
The supermoon rose behind the Empire State Building while it glowed red in solidarity with those infected with coronavirus as the outbreak of the disease continues in the Manhattan borough of New York City, as it is seen from Hoboken, New Jersey in US on April 7, 2020.
Watching in Beijing was local resident Ding Linlin, who said: “The epidemic situation in China is getting better and better. This [moon] may represent something good... I’m happy when I see it.”
Mainland China reported no coronavirus deaths on Tuesday for the first time since the pandemic began and a drop in new cases, a day before the central city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late in December, was set to lift its lockdown.
In Spain, where the virus is still raging and 743 people died in the last day to take the death toll to almost 14,000, residents of the capital Madrid clapped for health workers from their balconies and windows beneath the supermoon.
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