Supermoon to be visible tonight
July 13, 2014 00:07
Supermoons appear during this time of the year when the moon looks bigger than normal.
And tonight is the big moment when 'supermoons' of summer 2014 will become visible to the human eye.
While the other two will be seen on August 10 and September 9, respectively, the one which will be seen in the month of August would be closest to the Earth.
Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the moon's orbit. A supermoon appears when the moon is closest in reach to the earth than usual.
It appears as much as 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter. The moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ('perigee') about 50,000 km closer than the other ('apogee').
Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory said, Generally, full Moons occur near perigee every 13 months and 18 days, so it's not all that unusual. In fact, just last year there were three perigee Moons in a row, but only one was widely reported.
Interestingly, the term supermoon is not used within the astronomical community, which prefer to use the term perigee-syzygy or perigee full/new moon.
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