Closest new moon in 1,000 years on Lunar New Year

This Lunar New Year is set to be extra special as the New Moon will be nearer to earth than it has been in almost a thousand years!   

At 00.49 and 26 seconds on the 22nd of January, the New Moon will officially be the closest to earth that it's ever been in the last 992 years. This is according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lunar Ephemerides DE431, a mathematical computer modeling system that uses observed locations, lasers, and other high-tech processing to determine the moon's position relative to earth throughout time.  

The last time a new moon was in such close proximity to earth was on December 3rd. 1030AD.  

To put this into perspective, in 1030AD, the Byzantine empire was at war with the Islamic vassal states of the Near East; St. Olaf, a Viking king, died while trying to retake Norway, and Ouyang Xiu, a Chinese historian and scholar, obtained his jinshi degree at the age of 23 by passing the imperial examinations in the country, leading him into a distinguished path as a scholar-official.  

While many people make a fuss about the full moon, blood moons, and super moons, the new moon is just as important; just because you can't see it doesn’t mean it's not special, or most importantly, that it's not there.   

One visible phenomenon caused by a super close new moon will be the high tide which will reach an estimated 2.65m on Sunday night, compared to just about 2.3m tonight (Thurs), that’s a difference of over a foot!   

The most exciting part of the closest new moon in over a millennium is that it welcomes us into the year of the rabbit and bestows new beginnings, wealth, health, and prosperity upon us.   

Happy New Year! 

(Callan Williamson)