Saturday evening, the biggest full moon since 1983 will rise from the eastern horizon. The moon will appear large because it’s reaching its “perigree”, the closest approach to earth in its orbit. According to NASA, perigree moons are 14% bigger and 30% brighter than moons on the “apogee” side of the moon’s orbit, when it is farthest away from earth. What’s special about Saturday’s perigree moon is that it’s almost coinciding with a full moon, a relatively rare occurrence. Some refer to this coincidence as a “supermoon.”
Space.com writes “On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011: a distance of 221,565 miles (356,575 kilometers) away. And only 50 minutes earlier, the moon will officially be full.”
View the excellent video from NASA below for a nice overview of the super moon.
Space.com writes “On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011: a distance of 221,565 miles (356,575 kilometers) away. And only 50 minutes earlier, the moon will officially be full.”
View the excellent video from NASA below for a nice overview of the super moon.
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