India witnesses supermoon
Kolkata, Aug 1: India joined the rest of the world in witnessing the supermoon on Tuesday night, the first of the two this month.
Explaining the phenomenon, astrophysicist Debiprosad Duari said the moon goes around the Earth once in 27.3 days in an elliptic orbit. As a result, at some point in its orbit, it will be farthest from the Earth, the distant point being called the apogee, and at some other time it will be closest to Earth, which is called perigee.
"When we have a full moon near the perigee, closest to the Earth, we get what is termed as a supermoon," he explained, adding that it will again be visible on August 30.
The last time two supermoons were seen in the same month was in 2018, and the next such phenomenon will be witnessed in 2037, he said.
The 'supermoon' was visible from Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Punjab, but sky gazers in Kolkata missed it due to a thick blanket of clouds.
"It is exciting as this coincides with the time Chandrayaan 3 module will be injected into the lunar transfer trajectory," Duari said.
Chandrayaan 3 is expected to make a soft landing on the moon on August 23.
From the Earth, a supermoon seems 7 per cent bigger and 16 per cent brighter than a normal full moon, he said.
The average distance between the Earth and its moon is 3,84,000 km. The distance can vary because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit around the Earth, and can range from 3,56,000 km at perigee to 4,04,000 km at apogee.
On Tuesday night, the moon was at a distance of 3,57,530 km from the Earth, he said.
On August 30, the moon will be even closer -- 3,57,344 km from the Earth, Durai said.
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UP: 90 Bangladeshis, including 28 children, held in Mathura for illegal stay
Mathura (UP), May 16 (PTI): As many as 90 Bangladeshi nationals, including many children, were apprehended from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district on Friday for alleged illegal stay in India, officials said.
They were taken into custody from local brickyards at Khajpur village under the Naujheel police station limits, a senior officer said.
"Regular searches were being conducted throughout the district. During one such operation, police were searching some local brickyards when they came across Bangladeshi nationals working there," SSP Shlok Kumar said.
Giving a break-up, the officer said in all, 35 men, 27 women and 28 children have been taken into custody.
"During interrogation, all of them admitted to being Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India. They moved to Mathura three to four months back from a neighbouring state. Police are trying to establish their links," the SSP said, adding that their job contractor and other associates are also being questioned.
The officer told PTI that police also recovered some Aadhaar cards from the Bangladeshi nationals, apparently issued on forged documents in some other state.
Further legal proceedings are underway, Kumar said.
