Moon may have helped sink the Titanic

PhysOrg.com : Although the Titanic disaster 100 years ago has been much studied, astronomers at Texas State University have now proposed that the notorious iceberg may have had an accomplice—the Moon. Donald Olson and colleagues point out that on 4 January 1912, four months before the Titanic sank on 14 April, the Moon’s perigee—closest approach to Earth—was the most extreme in 1400 years and came within six minutes of a full Moon. In addition, Earth’s perihelion—closest approach to the Sun—occurred the day before. That rare configuration would have maximized the Moon’s tide-raising forces on Earth’s oceans. The enhanced tides could have caused increased glacial calving in Greenland and allowed more icebergs to travel more quickly into the shipping lanes. “Of course, the ultimate cause of the accident was that the ship struck an iceberg,” said Olson. “But the lunar connection may explain how an unusually large number of icebergs got into the path of the Titanic.” The astronomers have published their research in the April edition of Sky and Telescope magazine.