
Apogee Moon, Perigee Moon Credit & Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis
Tonight’s full moon will be the biggest and the brightest of the year. It is 14% wider and 30% brighter than other full moons.
Because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse instead of a circle, it is 50,000 kilometers closer on one side of the orbit than the other. Tonight’s full moon will be at perigee, or the closest part of the orbit.
As the sun sets, the full moon rises in the east. Adding to the bright, perigee Moon is the optical illusion that the Moon looks extra large when it’s near the horizon. It’s a phenomenon that isn’t understood. [Figure out why, name the effect after yourself, and your name will be a trivia answer.]
As an added bonus, the full moon will be accompanied by a very bright, orange Mars.
Hope for cloudless skies and enjoy the view.