Record Breaking "Supermoon" Is The Biggest Seen In 68 Years

machinate yourselves , because in two hebdomad we are drop dead to witness the most first-rate supermoon in 68 eld . Who knows what mayhem it ’ll get ( hint : not much ) .

On November 14 , the Moon will reach its close item to Earth , its perigee , at the same time that it is in the full Moon phase angle ( when the whole case that points towards us is lit by the Sun ) . This event is yell a supermoon .

Specifically , at 8.52am Eastern Time ( 1.52pm GMT ) , the Moon will be at its “ fullest ” , with the Sun , Earth , and the Moon all lined up – have it away as syzygy . Within two hours of this , the Moon will be just 356,509 kilometers ( 221,524 miles ) from Earth .

At its furthest head ( apogee ) in its calendar month - long orbit , the Moon is usually more than 400,000 kilometers ( 250,000 miles ) away . The reason for the difference is that the Moon ’s orbit , like the planets around the Sun , is not perfectly circular , and alternatively follows a thin oval .

This will be the closest the Moon has come to Earth ( by a few hundred kilometers ) since January 26 , 1948 , and it will not come nearer until November 25 , 2034 .

But despite this propinquity , the Moon wo n’t appear unusually bighearted . In fact , to the naked eye , the difference between perigee and apogee is almost undetectable . The difference between the two is about 14 percent in size and 30 percent in luminance , according toNASA .

A full Moon can still be impressive , though , particularly if it is near the horizon , when it can look extra large due to a deception called theMoon illusion . hoi polloi often mistake this illusion for the effect of the supermoon , so be warn .

And , well , a supermoon is n’t all that A-one or rare anyway . On average , there are about five every twelvemonth , definedas come when a full lunar month – or a new Sun Myung Moon , when it is shroud in dark – is within 90 percent of its closest coming in its orbit .

Nonetheless , this supermoon is more crack than other ones we ’ve experienced recently . But think , apart from the full lunation itself being rather pretty , you wo n’t point out anything particularly unusual .