SUPERMOON RISING

June 23, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – This week, a phenomenon known as a Supermoon is occurring.  The Moon will be closer to the Earth than at any other time during the year - in fact, the upcoming Starting today, Supermoon will be the closest encounter between the Earth and the Moon until August 2014.

The Moon reached its closest distance to the Earth at exactly 4:32 this morning, but will continue to appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a typical full moon through much of the summer, NASA reports.  This is a result of the Moon reaching its perigree - the closest that it gets to the Earth during the course of its orbit.

During perigree today, the Moon will be "only" about 221,824 miles away, as compared to the 252,581 miles away that it is at its furthest distance from the Earth (apogee). The Moon will actually be at apogee only two weeks after the Supermoon, on 7 July.

'Supermoon' is a situation when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average, and this effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same time as a full moon. So, the moon may seem bigger although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times.