First and Final Supermoon of the Year

Did you know about the Supermoon that occurred on December 3rd? Many will answer “no” to this question which will come as a surprise for the people that did notice it because the moon was 7% larger and 16%  brighter. This phenomenon occurs when a full moon is at a very close point to the Earth. This point is known as the perigee. For this particular supermoon, the moon was 252,651 miles from the Earth, but that still is not the closest a “supermoon” has been to the Earth this year. The closest “supermoon” occurred on May 25th, with the moon 221,958 miles away from the Earth. Scientifically, supermoons are actually called perigee syzygy and this year so far there has been three of these. Yet, why is the supermoon that occurred on December 3rd the first one this year? This is because the previous two were during the new moon and that means the moon is not visible. This means the “supermoon” that took place on May 25th, was not so super because we could not even see it.

When it comes to supermoons, there are 4-6 a year but most of them are not visible. The more recent supermoon before December 3rd was on November 14th, 2016 which came much after the January 26, 1948 supermoon. The rare appearance of supermoons make them much more breathtaking.  The next supermoon that we will be able to see is on November 25, 2034.