Full Moon Cause For "Green Alert" For Costa Rica's Coasts

The full moon this weekend is the reason for the "green alert" for high waves for Costa Rica's coasts. The alert was issued by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) as a preventive measure.

The CNE is advisory is from Sunday to Thursday. CNE officials say the Pacific coast and the area of Isla del Coco could be the most affected by the waves.

According to the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) - national weather service - the high waves could have a greater impact at high time.

The lunar event this weekend, called by some as Super Moon Sunday, brings the moon closest to Earth in past 18 years. The super moon event is said to occur between March 16 and March 22 with the full moon being closest to Earth than any time in the past 18 years on March 19.

Celestial bodies do not orbit in perfect circles as the earliest scientist thought. Johannes Kepler showed us in 1609 that planets and moons sweep out their orbits in ellipses. This means that, at some points in their orbits, they are closer to the body they orbit than other points. Whenever a celestial satellite is at its closest point, it is known to be at perigee and when it is at its furthest point from the body it orbits, it is at apogee. 


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