Bruce McClure (earthsky.org/tonight); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Moon over Garden of the Gods (devas), Colorado Springs (Joe Randall/Facebook/EarthSky) |
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Full moons at apogee (farthest from Earth, left) and perigee (closest to Earth, right) in 2011. Composite image by C. B. Devgun in India for EarthSky. Using the eye alone, it’ll be difficult to notice any size difference for the full moon of April 7-8, 2020. But moon-watchers might notice that this is a very bright full moon, and Earth’s oceans will feel an extra pull.
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| What's a "supermoon"? (EarthSky) |
In North America we often call the April full moon the Awakening Moon, Pink Moon, Grass Moon, or Egg Moon. In 2020, this April full moon also presents the closest (and thereby largest) supermoon of the year.
This full moon more closely coincides with lunar perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit – than does any other full moon in the year 2020.
Will we notice that the moon is larger than usual? Probably not...unless one is a very experienced and discerning observer.
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| Moon (Trish Minogue Collins/EarthSky) |
On the other hand, will we notice that the full moon of April 7-8 is particularly bright? Yes! Well, maybe...if we’re observant moon-watchers. Why? That’s because supermoons can be up to 15% brighter than an average-size full moon, 30% brighter than a micro-moon.
The moon comes closest to the Earth for the entire year when it reaches perigee on April 7, 2020, at 18:08 UTC. Of this year’s 13 lunar perigees, this is one of only two that comes closer than 221,830 miles (357,000 km). More
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