How to spot November’s supermoon, the closest of the year – Chicago Tribune
The moon will appear slightly larger and brighter Wednesday evening during the closest supermoon of the year.
The Moon’s orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle, so it gets closer and closer as it moves. A so-called supermoon occurs when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. This makes the moon appear up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA.
November’s supermoon is the second of three supermoons this year and also the closest: the moon will be just under 222,000 miles (357,000 kilometers) from Earth.
Tides may be slightly higher during a supermoon because the moon is closer to Earth, said astronomer Lawrence Wasserman of Lowell Observatory. But the difference is not very visible.
No special equipment is needed to view the supermoon if clear skies permit. But the change in the moon’s size can be difficult to discern with the naked eye.
“The difference is more obvious when comparing other images or observations,” Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, said in an email.
Supermoons occur several times a year. One in October made the moon appear a little larger, and another in December will be the last of the year.
