'Supermoon' 2012 Visible This Week As Moon Reaches Perigee

By: SPACE.com Staff
Published: 04/30/2012 02:02 PM EDT on SPACE.com

Skywatchers take note: The biggest full moon of the year is due to arrive this weekend.

The moon will officially become full Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT. And because this month's full moon coincides with the moon's perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year's biggest.

The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet, offering skywatchers a spectacular view of an extra-big, extra-bright moon, nicknamed a supermoon.

And not only does the moon's perigee coincide with full moon this month, but this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year, as the distance of the moon's close approach varies by about 3 percent, according to meteorologist Joe Rao, SPACE.com's skywatching columnist. This happens because the moon's orbit is not perfectly circular.

This month's full moon is due to be about 16 percent brighter than average. In contrast, later this year on Nov. 28, the full moon will coincide with apogee, the moon's farthest approach, offering a particularly small and dim full moon.

Though the unusual appearance of this month's full moon may be surprising to some, there's no reason for alarm, scientists warn. The slight distance difference isn't enough to cause any earthquakes or extreme tidal effects, experts say.

However, the normal tides around the world will be particularly high and low. At perigee, the moon will exert about 42 percent more tidal force than it will during its next apogee two weeks later, Rao said.

The last supermoon occurred in March 2011.

To view this weekend's supermoon to best effect, look for it just after it rises or before it sets, when it is close to the horizon. There, you can catch a view of the moon behind buildings or trees, an effect which produces an optical illusion, making the moon seem even larger than it really is.

Editor's note: If you'd like to share your supermoon photos for a possible story or gallery, send images and comments to SPACE.com managing editor Tariq Malik: [e-mail].

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

• 'Supermoon' Photos from Around the World: March 19, 2011
• Supermoon Returns in May 2012 | Video
• How the 'Supermoon' Looks (Infographic)

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Gronkie]

10:33 PM on 05/03/2012

Venus has been spectacular lately as well.

[mamacat]

07:08 AM on 05/03/2012

If the gravitational attraction of the Earth and the Moon are of any consideration, then there is a slightly increased chance of earthquakes around the time of this perigee-full-moon.

[mamacat]

07:07 AM on 05/03/2012

"...this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year." No, you did not just say that.

[mindwarp]

10:59 AM on 05/02/2012

GEE, ALL YOU NEED FOR THIS PICTURE IS A KID ON A BIKE WITH E.T.

[oncebittenMI]

10:48 AM on 05/02/2012

Great time to get out the telescopes.

[albalatrv]

10:25 AM on 05/02/2012

Too bad we only have one moon.

[DealByEthan]

11:40 PM on 05/01/2012

Looking forward to seeing this amazing event :) Love your 'Supermoon' 2012 Visible This Week As Moon Reaches Perigee article.

[PoppaG]

10:33 PM on 05/01/2012

It is a good thing this article told me how to see the super moon all I was going to do was look up in the sky

[Edwin Keever Jr]

07:37 PM on 05/01/2012

The Myans were right! It must be a sign form God! The world is going to end this December 21! Repent! Repent you lost souls! Give all your money to me! The world is going to end...

[huntingtreasures]

10:14 PM on 05/01/2012

The Myans did not use the same gods as they use today so how could this be a sign from god that the Myans were predicting.

[Edwin Keever Jr]

10:33 PM on 05/01/2012

It was suppost to be a joke but I guess it didn't work. Now repent you heathen:-)

[Brian Childers]

10:37 PM on 05/01/2012

OK both of you, it's MAYANS! And all the calendar means is that we are going into a new 26000 year age. Not the end of the world.

[BigbyWolf]

10:22 AM on 05/02/2012

I refuse on principle to accept any catcalysmic predictions from a culture that can't tell the difference between a sun god and a Spaniard on a horse :-)

[oncebittenMI]

10:46 AM on 05/02/2012

That made me laugh!

(Tenochtitlan/Quetzalcoatl - was actually the Aztecs.)

[Yoretha]

06:50 PM on 05/01/2012

AWE LAWD!!! Hang on ya'll. Here come da big one! Gonna be one helluva tequila night!

[Mary Thompson]

06:42 PM on 05/01/2012

Cool! I'll be watching on the East Coast.

[Canefighter]

05:40 PM on 05/01/2012

Dang, the Werewolves will be out in force, I need to stock up on silver bullets.

[lkd3712]

04:33 PM on 05/01/2012

So it's the biggest, fullest moon in years, AND it's on Cinco de Mayo? Mayans were right!

[Brian Childers]

10:38 PM on 05/01/2012

About what? A new cycle beginning on 12-22-12? That is the only thing the Mayans said.

[Jackie S]

10:39 AM on 05/02/2012

It happens every year last yr was in March ....its just how it cycles around earth

[Tim Day]

04:16 PM on 05/01/2012

They wouldn't tell us if something was going to happen anyway

[Brian Childers]

10:39 PM on 05/01/2012

"They" wouldn't know if something was going to happen.

[Icleaks]

03:32 PM on 05/01/2012

Full moon and cinco de mayo - what could go wrong?

[jchowell3657]

07:18 PM on 05/01/2012

Maybe a pack of Mexicans will moon people?