‘Supermoon’ Tonight will be Biggest, Brightest of Year
By Amanda Barnett, CNN
(CNN) — Wait until dark Saturday. Dust off your telescope or binoculars. Grab the kids (dust them off too if needed). Go outside. Look up at the moon. Does it look bigger than usual?
According to NASA, this May’s full moon is called a “super moon,” and it will look about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year.
Scientists call it a “perigee moon.” Perigee, as all good space and science geeks know, means the moon is as close to the Earth as it will get for a while. The exact time of perigee will be 11:34 p.m. ET Saturday. (Apogee means far away — but we don’t care about a distant, tiny dim moon, do we?)
The best time to see the “super moon” is just as it crosses Earth’s horizon. The moon always looks biggest then, although why is a bit of a mystery.
Last year’s “supermoon” was on March 19. This year, it is expected to arrive at 11:35 p.m. Saturday (Eastern time).