“Supermoon” is a term which refers to any full moon that occurs when our natural satellite is within 10 percent of its perigee, or minimum distance from Earth.
Full moons are a lunar phase which occur roughly once every month when the Earth is located directly between the sun and the moon. At these moments, the side of the moon that faces towards us is fully illuminated.
Tomorrow, this moment will occur at 10:35 p.m. Eastern Time, when the moon will be located 221,851 miles from our planet (as measured between the centers of the moon and Earth) according to EarthSky.
This is very close to the lunar perigee that is set to occur at 2:08 p.m. on the same day. At this point, the center of our natural satellite will be 221,773 miles from Earth’s center. The April full moon falls closer in time to a lunar perigee than any other full moon in 2020.
According to Gianluca Masi, an astronomer from the Virtual Telescope Project, the moon will be 7 percent larger and 15 brighter than an average full moon tomorrow.
However, these differences will be difficult to notice for most stargazers, said Rick Fienberg, a spokesperson for the American Astronomical Society.
“Most people—including experienced stargazers—cannot tell the difference between a supermoon and any other full moon, because full moons are seen only once every month, and you cannot compare one to another directly,” Fienberg previously told Newsweek.
Perhaps the best time to view a full moon is when our satellite rises or sets—which happens at sunset and dawn respectively. This is due to a phenomenon known as the “moon illusion,” which refers to the fact that the moon looks bigger closer to the horizon than when it is higher in the sky.
“At night, the Full Moon is very bright, almost dazzling, compared to the darkness of the landscape,” Masi said in a statement provided to Newsweek. “At its rise, the Moon appears behind monuments and elements of the landscape, generating the feeling that its disk is larger than usual, but this is just an optical illusion, due to the presence of those terrestrial elements on the line of sight, giving grounds for comparison.”
“During the twilight, the residual solar light scattered all around by our atmosphere allows us to admire the scenery, while the full moon rises or falls on the horizon,” he said.
If you are not able to observe the full moon in the sky, the Virtual Telescope Project will be providing a live feed of the event from 1 p.m. ET on April 7 that can be viewed here.
The April full moon is sometimes referred to as the “Pink Moon” in North America, a name of ancient origin that is likely derived from the the pink flowers of the Wild Ground Phlox plant which often bloom around this time of year. April full moons mark the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
