Those who are passionate about astronomy are in luck. In a short space of time we will enjoy an extraordinarily large and bright Moon, like the one this past July 12. We still have two more opportunities to see another supermoon: next August 10 and September 9 .
According to NASA, this phenomenon is called "Perigee Moon" and is based on the oval shape of the Moon's orbit . When it follows an elliptical path around the Earth with one side ("perigee"), it is 50,000 kilometers closer than the other side ("apogee"), thus achieving this size variation so obvious to our eyes. This variation in size will be much more impressive on the next full moon, that of August, so we could be talking about an “extra-super-moon”.
“Generally speaking, full moons occur near perigee every 13 months and 18 days, so it's not that unusual . In fact, last year there were three perigee moons in a row, but only one was widely reported, "says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory.
The supermoon differs from the normal Moon in that it is 30% brighter and 14% larger, but both differences, according to scientists, can easily be missed by clouds and haze.
