Supermoon 2019: Biggest Full Moon of the year coincides with THIS astronomer's birthday

The Supermoon is the second of three Supermoons this year, which started on January 21 and will end on March 21. Tonight (Tuesday, February 19), the Full Moon is at its closest and brightest it will be for the rest of the year and until December 2026. But the Supermoon is also special because it falls on the 546th birthday of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Born on February 19, 1473, the Renaissance-era astronomer from Torun, Poland, revolutionised the way scientists saw the universe.

Today, Copernicus’ work on the night skies is credited for placing the Sun firmly at the centre of our solar system, and not the Earth.

The coincidental date of the Supermoon falling on Copernicus’ birthday is fitting, considering the astronomer was first recognised for his contributions to science 40 years after his death in 1543.

But there is still some debate whether or not Copernicus was truly born on February 19 – there also appears to be some confusion regarding his date of death.

Jerzy Sikorski, a Polish historian specialising in Copernicus, said: “We are celebrating the astronomer’s real birthday.

READ MORE: Supermoon 2019 LIVE stream: How to watch the LARGEST Moon of the year online today?

“His date of birth is known from a horoscope given to Copernicus in the 16th century.

“It must have been genuine for the horoscope to be real.”

Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system made its stamp on history with the publishing of his magnum opus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium or On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.

The book, which was first printed in 1543, sparked a revolution in the scientific world, which at the time was heavily intertwined with the Catholic Church.

READ MORE: Supermoon WARNING: Astronomers warn coastal areas are at risk of EXTREME tides

However, there is still a lot to learn about the life and work of the great astronomer.

Mr Sikorski said: “We know a great deal but new topics are arising.”

Copernicus is believed to have died at the age of 70 on May 24, 1543.

In 2003, a team of archaeologists discovered his remains in Frombork Cathedral in the town of Frombork.

The astronomer’s remains were then buried for a second time in the same spot but this time his burial was marked by a Catholic mass and a tombstone was placed over his final resting place.

READ MORE: LOOK UP at the closest Full Moon to Earth until 2026

What is a Supermoon?

A Supermoon occurs whenever a Full Moon or a New Moon approaches its point of perigee, on its orbit of the Earth.

Space agency NASA explained: “The term ‘Supermoon’ was coined in 1979 and is often used today to describe what astronomers would call a perigean Full Moon: a Full Moon occurring near or at the time when the Moon is at its closest point in its orbit around Earth.

“The term gives preference to the geometric alignment of Sun-Earth-Moon and allows the occurrence of perigee into a wider time period than the actual instant of perigee.”

Tonight’s Supermoon will be the largest until December 2026, according to Tom Kerss, astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich.

source: express.co.uk