A supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth.
By Richard Nolle’s definition, the new moon or full moon has to come within 361,836 kilometers (224,834 miles) of our planet, as measured from the centers of the moon and Earth, in order to be considered a supermoon.
More often than not, the one day of the year that the full moon and perigee align also brings about the year’s closest perigee (also called proxigee). Because the moon has recurring cycles, we can count on the full moon and perigee to come in concert in periods of about one year, one month and 18 days.
By that definition, the year 2015 has a total of six supermoons. The first supermoon, for 2015, came with the January 20 new moon. The new moons on February 18 and March 20 were also considered supermoons, according to Nolle’s definition, and that same definition dictates that the full moons of August, September and October will be supermoons, too. Thus, the full moon supermoons – aka near-perigee full moons – in 2015:
Full moon of August 29 at 18:35 UTC
Full moon of September 28 at 2:50 UTC
Full moon of October 27 at 12:05 UTC
The full moon on September 28, 2015, will present the closest supermoon of the year (356,896 kilometers or 221,754 miles). What’s more, this September 28, 2015 full moon will stage a total lunar eclipse, concluding a series of Blood Moon eclipses that started with the total lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014.
More often than not, the one day of the year that the full moon and perigee align also brings about the year’s closest perigee (also called proxigee). Because the moon has recurring cycles, we can count on the full moon and perigee to come in concert in periods of about one year, one month and 18 days.
Dates of closest full supermoons in future years:
Therefore, the full moon and perigee realign in periods of about one year and 48 days. So we can figure the dates of the closest full moons in recent and future years as:
September 28, 2015November 14, 2016January 2, 2018.
Source: Wikipedia, EarthSky
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