Super Moon
What is a supermoon?
The sometimes controversial label is applied colloquially to a perigee-syzygy moon, which is when a full moon is within 90% of its closest approach to Earth. The moon travels in an elliptical orbit, so full moons take place at a variety of distances from our planet. A perigee-syzygy moon is, from a stargazer's vantage point, a full moon that's brighter and larger than an average full moon.
The perigee is the point of the orbit when it's at its closest point to Earth. At that time, it's about 14% larger and 30% brighter than a micromoon, which is what we have when the moon is at its apogee or furthest point from Earth in its orbit. You can see where the controversy comes into play because many people argue that 30% brighter and 14% larger than when the moon is at its smallest may be an abuse of the word "super."
What is a supermoon?
The sometimes controversial label is applied colloquially to a perigee-syzygy moon, which is when a full moon is within 90% of its closest approach to Earth. The moon travels in an elliptical orbit, so full moons take place at a variety of distances from our planet. A perigee-syzygy moon is, from a stargazer's vantage point, a full moon that's brighter and larger than an average full moon.
The perigee is the point of the orbit when it's at its closest point to Earth. At that time, it's about 14% larger and 30% brighter than a micromoon, which is what we have when the moon is at its apogee or furthest point from Earth in its orbit. You can see where the controversy comes into play because many people argue that 30% brighter and 14% larger than when the moon is at its smallest may be an abuse of the word "super."
