5 keys to enjoying the closest supermoon

By Deborah Byrd in ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS | November 12,

2016
The closest full moon since 1948 is coming up this weekend.
When should you watch? What should you watch for? Are
supermoons hype? Heres all you need to know.

August 10, 2014 supermoon, the closest one for that year, via
Damian OSullivan in Ireland.
On November 14, 2016, the moon will be closer to Earth than
its been since January 26, 1948. Itll be a full moon and a
supermoon. The moon wont come this close again until

November 25, 2034. That makes upcoming full moon the

closest and largest supermoon in a period of 86 years! Here
are five things you need to know.
Moon equally awesome on November 13 and 14
Are supermoons hype? No. Heres what to look for
Supermoons can create super tides
Closest moon nearly always a full moon
Supermoons happen in cycles

Mother and sons watch a 2013 supermoon rise through cloud

cover at Tempe Town Lake in Arizona. Photo via Kathleen
Kingma. Read more about this image.

Moon equally awesome on November 13 and 14. Heres

the first and most important thing you need to know. Many
articles weve seen about the coming supermoon say to look
for it on November 14. But for many of us, especially those
of us in the Americas the moon will be just as big and bright
(if not bigger and brighter) on November 13.
Thats because the moon will reach both the crest of its full
phase and its closest point for the month (perigee) very
early in the day on November 14 according to clocks in the
Americas.
Perigee comes at 11:23 UTC (6:23 a.m. ET) on November 14.
Full moon crests two-and-a-half hours later at 13:52 UTC
(8:52 a.m. ET) on November 14.
Translate to your time zone
So for all of us in the Americas the moon is closest to
being full and closest to Earth on the morning of November
14, not the evening. That means that for all U.S. time zones,
including Alaska and Hawaii the supermoon falls closer to
the night of November 13 than November 14. Thats
especially true if you are a morning person and plan to
observe the supermoon before dawn.
Dont stress too much about this. The moon will be big and
bright both nights! And both nights will be an awesome time
to moon-gaze or take photographs.

At right, the August 29, 2015 supermoon. At left, the March 5,

2015 micro-moon smallest full moon of the year. Photos
by Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe.
Are supermoons hype? No. Heres what to look for The
term supermoon is relatively new (read their history here).
Before we called them supermoons, we in astronomy called
them perigean full moons. Catchy, eh? Well not so much.
Most people ignored these moons until the term supermoon
came along.
Whats special about a supermoon? Finely tuned instruments
or composite images show that a supermoon is indeed
closer to Earth and thus bigger than an ordinary full moon.
But most of us cant detect that difference, using just our
eyes. Experienced observers, meanwhile, do sometimes
say they can detect a size difference between ordinary full
moons and a supermoon.
So, if the rest of us cant see that a supermoon actually
appears larger in our sky, why do we get so excited about

supermoons? Here are two things to notice about the

November 13-14 supermoon.
First, for all of us, the brightness of the moon will increase
noticeably around supermoon-time. All full moons are bright,
but supermoons are substantially and noticeably brighter
than ordinary full moons. So notice the brightness, not the
bigness, of the moon on November 13 and 14!
Second, the moons gravity affects earthly tides, and a
supermoon full moon closest to Earth pulls harder on
Earths oceans than an ordinary full moon. Thats why
supermoons create higher-than usual tides. Read on

Deik Haigler Photography wrote of the September 2015

supermoon tide: We almost got stuck out the Marsh
Boardwalk when this King High Tide came in over the
boardwalk

Supermoons can create super tides. Are supermoons

hype? Just ask the oceans! All full moons bring larger-thanusual tides, called spring tides or, in some places, king tides.
Supermoons bring the highest, and lowest, tides of all.
If you live along a coastline, watch for high tides caused by
the November 14 supermoon for a period of several
days afterNovember 14. These tides tend to follow the date
of full moon by a day or two.
Will the high tides cause flooding? Probably not, unless a
strong weather system moves into the coastline where you
are. That was the case with the high supermoon tides of
September, 2015. That supermoon combined with an 18.6year lunar cycle, and a tropical storm caused high tides and
some flooding on both sides of the Atlantic.
So keep an eye on the weather around November 14, if you
live along the coast. Storms do have a large potential to
accentuate high spring tides, especially those caused by
supermoons.

Moon is closest to Earth at perigee and farthest away at

apogee. When the full moon aligns with perigee as it does
on November 14, 2016 its a perigee full moon or
supermoon. By the way, the moons orbit is much closer to
being a circle than this diagram suggests! Image via NASA.
Closest moon nearly always a full moon. We wondered
is it the closest moon (in general) since 1948, or the
closest full moon? Turns out those two tend to be one and the
same.
Because of gravity, and the intriguing interplay of the sun,
Earth and moon (and, to a lesser extent, the planets), the
closest perigee of any given year is often the one that aligns
most closely with full moon.
For the moon to appear full, the sun, Earth and moon need to
be aligned, with Earth in the middle. During that particular
alignment, the tidal pull of the sun and moon combine to
create wide-ranging spring tides. And full moons at perigee
create even wider-ranging perigean spring tides.
The diagram below helps to explain why the perigee full
moon comes especially close to Earth. Take a careful look.
Explanation below.

Image via Bedford Astronomy Club.

Ready to get technical? Read on!
On the diagram above, the line connecting lunar perigee with
lunar apogee defines the moons major axis (the longest axis
of an ellipse).
When the moons major axis (apogee-perigee line) points
sunward (A & C on the diagram), the eccentricity (flatness) of
the moons orbit is increased to a maximum. A greater
eccentricity lessens the perigee distance, while increasing the
apogee distance.
At A in the diagram, its a perigee new moon (supermoon)
and an apogee full moon (micro-moon).
Then 3.5 lunar months (some 103 days) later, at B in the
diagram, the major axis is at a right angle to the sun-Earth
line, so the eccentricity is minimal. At such times, the moons
orbit is closest to circular. Its a more distant perigee and

closer apogee, with the first quarter and last quarter moons
more or less aligning with apogee and perigee.
Then 7 lunar months (206 days) later, the major axis again
points sunward. Once again, the eccentricity of the moons
orbit is increased to a maximum, lessening the perigee
distance yet increasing the apogee distance. This time
around, its a full moon perigee and new moon apogee. See C
in the diagram.
Dates for closest/farthest new/full moons in 2016:
April 7: closest new moon
April 22: farthest full moon:
Seven lunar months later:
October 30: farthest new moon
November 14: closest full moon

Super cool super-moonrise composite from Fiona M. Donnelly

in Ontario. August, 2014.
Supermoons happen in cycles. Okay, so by now if youre
a regular EarthSky reader youve figured out that
everything in the sky happens in cycles. The supermoon is no
exception.
Closest full moons tend to recur in cycles of 14 lunar
(synodic) months, because 14 lunar months almost exactly
equal 15 returns to perigee (moons closest point to Earth).

A lunar month refers to the time period between successive

full moons, a mean period of 29.53059 days. An anomalistic
month refers to successive returns to perigee, a period of
27.55455 days. Hence:
14 lunar months x 29.53059 days = 413.428 days
15 anomalistic months x 27.55455 days = 413.318 days
This 413-day time period is equal to about 1 year, 1 month,
and 18 days.
The full moon and perigee will realign again on January
2, 2018, because the 14th full moon after the November 14,
2016 full moon will fall on that date.
Moon closest to Earth
Year
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2018

Date
March 19
May 6
June 23
August 10
September 28
November 14
January 2

Distance
356,575 km
356,955 km
356,991 km
356,896 km
356,877 km
356,509 km
356,565 km

Looking further into the future, the perigee full moon will
come closer than 356,500 kilometers for the first time in the
21st century (2001-2100) on November 25, 2034 (356,446
km). The closest full moon of the 21st century will fall on
December 6, 2052 (356,425 km).
For the moon to come closer than 356,400 kilometers
(221,457 miles) is quite a feat. In fact, this wont happen at
all in the 21st century (2001-2100) or the 22nd century
(2101-2200). The last time the full moon perigee swung this
close to Earth was on January 14, 1930 (356,397 km), and the
next time wont be till January 1, 2257 (356,371 km).

Supermoons happen every year. Supermoon and shipwreck

August 10, 2014 by Damian McCudden.
Bottom line: Enjoy the November 14, 2016 supermoon. Dont
forget to watch for it on November 13 as well, especially if
you live in the Americas. Two things to watch for: the moons
brightness, and especially high tides in the days following the
full moon.
What is a supermoon?
Supermoons and the Saros cycle
DEBORAH BYRD

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and

EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of
this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the
broadcasting and science communities, including having an
asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science
communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in

science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for
the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a
big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
MORE ARTICLES

Can we see stars outside our Milky Way?

5 hours ago

Use Cassiopeia to find Andromeda galaxy

2 days ago
Tonight

Can we see stars outside our Milky Way?

Today's Image

Night-shining clouds over Antarctica

We're Socialall the time

Tweets by @earthskyscience