There will be a Full Moon on the night of November 13-14, 2016, but not just any Full Moon, it will be the largest Supermoon in 68 years. In this rare lunar event, the moon will be 14% bigger in the sky.
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Two things have to happen for there to be a supermoon. November’s full moon is the closest since 1948, and another this close won’t come until 2034. Supermoons occur because of the moon’s elliptical orbit, which is roughly 30,000 miles closer to the Earth on one side than the other, according to NASA. One side of the ellipse brings the moon closer to Earth.
“There are many potential paths from the moon’s formation to the Earth-moon system we see today”, said co-author Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland.
This occurrence causes the moon to appear much bigger and brighter in our sky than usual.
The December supermoon will be special for its own reason.
So, mark your calendars, on November 14th, the “Beaver Moon” will become full within two hours of being at perigee.
The moon is called a supermoon when it appears in the sky much bigger and brighter as it reaches the part of the orbit, called perigee, which is the closest to the Earth, and then lines up with sun and the Earth.
When the moon is at the stage when it is closest to Earth, this is called its perigee. This supermoon will be the biggest full moon in nearly 70 years, and won’t be this big again until November 2034. “But this scenario does not quite work if Earth’s spin axis was tilted at the 23.5 degree angle we see today”.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell whether the moon is a supermoon or not. When it is further away, this is the moon’s apogee.
On both November 5th and November 6th you should be able to make out the red planet hanging next to the crescent moon. Well, it’s super because it’s just way brighter than your run-of-the-mill “energy-saving” lightbulb style moon; it’s 14 percent larger and 30 percent for brighter.
When can you see it?
The November 14 Supermoon 2016 event is a ideal example of the perigee-syzygy phenomenon. If you live in the United Kingdom, you should be able to see the moon later that evening.
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Americans and Europeans can get their best views either Sunday Nov. 13 or the following night.
