Feb 14, 2025 · What Is a Supermoon? A “supermoon” occurs when a full moon coincides with the Moon’s closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point known as perigee. During every 27-day orbit around Earth, the Moon reaches both its perigee, about 226,000 miles (363,300 km) from Earth, and its farthest point, or apogee, about 251,000 miles ...

Feb 28, 2025 · As it’s used today, the word supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979. And according to Nolle’s definition, a full moon or new moon is a supermoon when it’s also within 90% ...

A supermoon is a full moon or a new moon that nearly coincides with perigee—the closest that the Moon comes to the Earth in its orbit—resulting in a slightly larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk as viewed from Earth. [1]

When the Full Moon or occurs near the Moon's closest approach to Earth, its perigee, it is often called a supermoon.

Aug 17, 2023 · What is a supermoon? The Moon travels around our planet in an elliptical orbit, or an elongated circle, with Earth closer to one side of the ellipse. Each month, the Moon passes through the point closest to Earth (perigee) and the point farthest from Earth (apogee).

supermoon, a full moon that occurs when the Moon is at perigee (the closest point to Earth in its orbit). The Moon is typically about 12 percent (or about 43,000 km [27,000 miles]) closer to Earth at perigee than at apogee, and thus a full moon at perigee would be about 25 percent brighter than one at apogee.

Jan 16, 2025 · What Is a Supermoon? Generally speaking, a supermoon is a full moon that appears larger than a typical full moon because it is closer to Earth. However, there’s a bit more to it than that! In fact, there are a couple of definitions of “supermoon” out there.

May 9, 2022 · A supermoon is defined as a full moon that coincides (or very nearly so) with lunar perigee — when the moon arrives at that point in its orbit closest to the Earth.

Apr 5, 2020 · What is a supermoon? A supermoon occurs when the Moon is at or near its closest point to Earth at the same time it is full. This event makes the Moon look larger and brighter in the sky.

The name “supermoon” was coined by an astrologer in 1979 and is often used by the media today to describe what astronomers would call a perigean (pear-ih-jee-un) full moon: a full moon occurring near or at the time when the Moon is at its closest point in its orbit around Earth.