Monday encore for century’s first supermoon

Supermoon, also called perigee full moon, occurs when the Moon comes closest to the Earth in its orbit on a full moon day. “Though the difference between a Supermoon and the average moon will be just around seven per cent, the best time to spot the difference is as it rises just above the horizon, just after sunset,” says P Iyamperumal, Executive Director, Birla Planetarium, Chennai. 

The Moon will appear at a distance of nearly 3,56,511 km on November 14. “A perigee full moon can be as much as 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than an apogee full moon. However, the phenomenon can be easily blurred by clouds or glare of urban lights. As we cannot make out the difference, this full moon will look much like any other,” said the director. He also explained that the previous full moon (October 15) and the next full moon (December 14) can also be considered Supermoon for its closer proximity to the Earth. “The next time a full moon will be close to Earth will be on November 25, 2034,” he said.