Is a Supermoon Really Special?

image via New Scientist

September 13, 2024, 10:45 AM

• •The term ‘supermoon’ was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.
• •The moon’s orbit around Earth is not a circle but instead an ellipse or oval, so at some times it’s closer to our planet than at others.
• •The moon is brightest when it’s full, of course, and if it’s closer to Earth at that point, it’s true that it’ll look bigger and brighter—hence a supermoon!

The moon's orbit around Earth is not a circle but instead an ellipse or oval, so at some times it's closer to our planet than at others. The closest point in the orbit is called the perigee (literally “near to Earth”) and the farthest point is called apogee (“away from Earth”). The moon takes about 27 days to orbit Earth once, so it reaches perigee about two weeks after apogee. The moon is brightest when it's full, of course, and if it's closer to Earth at that point, it's true that it'll look bigger and brighter—hence a supermoon! But will you actually be able to tell the difference?

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