NORTHERN HEMISPHERE – If you ever wanted to reach for the moon, chances are good for Sunday night.
That’s because, overnight on Sunday, Nov. 13 – Monday, Nov. 14, we get to experience a supermoon, and this one is really special. A supermoon results when the moon reaches its full phase at the closest point to Earth along the satellite’s elliptical orbit, causing la luna to look bigger and about 30 percent brighter in the sky, according to NASA.
This month’s moon will be the closest to Earth it’s been since January 1948, and it won’t be this close again until 2034. Precisely speaking, the November moon is full at 3:23 a.m. PST. on Nov. 14 and will appear full starting Sunday night.
“I’ve been telling people to go out at night on either Sunday or Monday night to see the supermoon,” said Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission.
“The difference in distance from one night to the next will be very subtle, so if it’s cloudy on Sunday, go out on Monday. Any time after sunset should be fine. Since the moon is full, it’ll rise at nearly the same time as sunset, so I’d suggest that you head outside after sunset, or once it’s dark and the moon is a bit higher in the sky. You don’t have to stay up all night to see it, unless you really want to!”
It should be no problem to see the orb of night from our neighborhoods this time around, as clear skies are forecast for now. Native Americans called this month’s the Beaver Moon, says the Old Farmer’s Almanac, to mark the time of year when hunting took place to create a store of food and warmth for the winter to come.
This is the second in a trio of supermoons to round out the year. While the October supermoon has already passed, we still have Nov. 14 and one on Dec. 13 at 4:05 p.m. PDT.
The Slooh CommunityObservatory will offer a live broadcast for November’s full moon on Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. EST. You can also watch the supermoon live on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh.
