Moon maniacs, this is your weekend.
A so-called supermoon will rise in the east at sunset today.
A supermoon occurs when the moon is slightly closer to Earth than it typically is, and the effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same time as a full moon, said James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
This full moon is not only the closest and largest full moon of the year, according to astronomy website EarthSky. It’s also the moon’s closest encounter with Earth in all of 2013. So it’s not just a supermoon – it’s the closest supermoon of the half-dozen or so that will occur this year, EarthSky reports.
The word supermoon was coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle, says AccuWeather’s Mark Paquette. Nolle used the term to describe a new or full moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to Earth.
The moon will pass within about 221,000 miles from the Earth tonight, compared with its “typical” distance of about 238,000 miles. It will turn full around 5:30 a.m. MST Sunday, making it the best time to view.
Garvin says the moon may seem bigger, although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent. For instance, the moon on tonight will appear 12 percent to 14 percent larger than it will next month.
The moon’s effect on ocean tides is higher during a supermoon than any other time, so expect higher and lower tides than usual, reports Sean Breslin of the Weather Channel. (The high tide this weekend is also known as a “king” tide.) There is no connection between the supermoon and earthquakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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