minimoon
See also: mini-moon
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Noun
[edit]minimoon (plural minimoons)
- A brief honeymoon or holiday taken after a wedding.
- 2008 January 16, Carolyn Ali, “Minimoons may be short, but they sure are sweet”, in The Georgia Straight:
- But weddings are stressful, and it makes sense to take a day or two after saying “I do” to relax and make mad, passionate love (read: sleep in and watch TV). So consider a minimoon: a quick two-night getaway close to home.
- 2009 July 1, Jo Tweedy, “After the nanobreak comes the 'minimoon' as newlyweds scrimp on honeymoon holiday”, in Daily Mail:
- Rachel Moschke, Editor of Wedding Ideas magazine, said: ‘Most of us worry about saving up for our wedding day, but it seems we’re reluctant to give up the quality time together that a honeymoon offers. A minimoon is the perfect way to start married life, without busting the budget.’
- 2012 November 22, James Robertson, “Rochelle and Marvin Humes are having a baby: 'We're so excited to start a family'”, in The Mirror, UK:
- The couple are yet to go on their honeymoon because of their strict working schedules but did find time for a ‘minimoon’ after tying the knot.
Etymology 2
[edit]Noun
[edit]minimoon (plural minimoons)
- (astronomy) A small asteroid captured by the Earth's gravity and temporarily acting as a second moon of Earth.
- Coordinate term: quasi-satellite
- 2020 March 4, Theresa Machemer, “Earth's New Mini-Moon Is Leaving Soon”, in Smithsonian Magazine[1], archived from the original on 2022-08-20:
- This photo of Earth's newest minimoon was taken by the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Hawaii's Maunakea.
- 2020 September 22, Stacy Liberatore, “Earth is set to capture a minimoon in October that may stay until May 2021 – but some experts say the object could be man-made space junk”, in The Daily Mail[2], archived from the original on 2021-07-26:
- Earth has only had two minimoons on record – one in February 2020 and the other in 2006.
- 2021 March 11, Alexandra Witze, “Record number of asteroids seen whizzing past Earth in 2020”, in Nature[3], archived from the original on 2022-09-09:
- These included a rare 'minimoon' named 2020 CD3, a tiny asteroid less than 3 metres in diameter that had been temporarily captured by Earth's gravity. The minimoon broke away from Earth's pull last April.
- (astronomy, uncommon) Synonym of micromoon (“a full moon which appears unusually small due to coinciding with the Moon's apogee”)
- Antonym: supermoon
- 2014 January 15, Geoff Gaherty, “Smallest full moon of 2014 rises tonight”, in NBC News[4], archived from the original on 2022-12-21:
- The trouble is, the difference in size between Supermoon and Minimoon, though apparent when placed side-by-side, is only 14 percent, too small to be seen with the naked eye.
- 2018 January 29, Tim O'Brien, “'Super blue blood moon' to grace the sky – here's what we could learn from it”, in The Conversation[5], archived from the original on 2022-08-13:
- At its closest point, perigee, the moon will obviously appear largest. Such a "maximoon" has an apparent diameter about 13% larger than a "minimoon" at its most distant point, apogee.
- 2022 August 9, Rosie Bensley, “A supermoon will rise on Thursday: Here's a photographer's tips to get the best snap”, in The Canberra Times[6]:
- For those interested in a longer-term project, Professor Horner said taking a photo of the supermoon and comparing it to the 'minimoon' in December can be an interesting experiment to compare the size.