Sun, moon to appear bigger on Jan 3 due to rare celestial coincidence

Udupi, Jan 2: A rare celestial event will be witnessed on January 3, when both the Sun and the Moon will appear larger than usual as they move closer to the Earth on the same day.

On this day, the Earth will come closer to the Sun by about 30 lacs km, making it appear slightly bigger in the sky. At the same time, the Moon will move nearly 27,000 km closer to the Earth, appearing noticeably larger and brighter. The occurrence of both these phenomena on a single day is considered extremely rare.

January 3 will also witness a full moon as well as a supermoon, the first supermoon of the year. Due to this, the full moon will be about 27,000 km closer to the Earth, appearing around 14 percent larger and nearly 30 percent brighter than an average full moon.

The Sun will mark a significant astronomical event on the same day as the Earth reaches perihelion, its closest point to the Sun in its elliptical orbit. On January 3, the distance between the Earth and the Sun will reduce from the average 15 crore km to about 14 crore 70 lacs km, causing the Sun to appear larger than usual.

This year, the Earth will reach perihelion on January 3 and aphelion on July 6. These phenomena occur due to the elliptical orbits of the Earth around the Sun and the Moon around the Earth.

The coincidence of a full moon turning into a supermoon on the same day the Earth reaches perihelion makes this astronomical event particularly special, according to a release issued from Udupi.