Mark your calendars for November 14 — or else you’ll risk missing a record-breaking astronomical event that hasn’t happened for over 70 years.
The November supermoon will mark the closest the Moon has been to Earth since January 1948. It’ll appear to be around 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than a normal full moon, according to ScienceAlert. And the next time the Moon gets this close to Earth will be Nov. 25, 2034, so you don’t want to miss it.
“The full moon of November 14 is not only the closest full moon of 2016, but also the closest full moon to date in the 21st century,“ NASA wrote in a blog post.
Supermoons themselves aren’t exactly uncommon. We just had a supermoon this past October, and another one is due to appear on Dec. 14. But November’s moon is going to be the biggest and brightest one in nearly seven decades — essentially a super-supermoon.
As NASA explains, a supermoon is caused by the Moon’s elliptical orbit. One side of the moon, called the perigee, is around 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the other side, known as the apogee. When the Sun, the Moon and the Earth line up, it’s known as syzygy. And when a syzygy occurs, and the Moon and Sun happen to be on opposite sides of each other, we get what’s called a perigee-syzygy — what is commonly known as a supermoon.
Supermoons are beautiful, of course — but not always easily visible. Overcast weather can block out the supermoon’s glow. And bright urban lights can compete with the Moon, causing it to appear dimmer than it actually is. Additionally, full moons often all appear similar to each other as there aren’t any reference points in the sky to offer scale. Similarly, low-hanging moons can often appear bigger when viewed through trees, buildings or other objects due to an optical illusion. So you might want to take these things into account if you plan on moon-watching come Nov. 14.
Besides the supermoon on November 14, there are also several other fantastic sky events this month that you don’t want to miss, according to National Geographic.
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