A supermoon is
the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon
makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent
size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. The technical name is the
perigee-syzygy of the Earth–Moon–Sun system.
Watching the
skies on November 14, I saw the big and
bright supermoon billed as a “super-dupermoon”
or an “extra-supermoon.”
This Supermoons
will be the nearest that a full moon has come to Earth since January 26, 1948.
The full moon could appear close again until November 25, 2034 whether I'll be
there or gone.
The term
supermoon refers to a full moon that occurs when our planet’s natural satellite
is at its closest point to Earth in
its elliptical orbit. Astronomers call that point perigee, and so “perigee moon” is another term
for supermoon. The point at which the moon is most distant from Earth in its
orbit is known as apogee.
A supermoon may
appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than
an apogee full moon, according to NASA. The effect is most pronounced when the
moon is viewed near the horizon.
This supermoon
is one of three to occur during the last tree months of 2016. There was a
supermoon on Oct. 16, and there will be another on Dec. 14.
This image by Bill Hood compares the size of the supermoon with the other full moons from 2016. Hood shot the moon photos with a Nikon D750 camera and Nikon 200-500mm lens.
Credit: Bill Hood
