Supermoon Saturday!

Grab your telescopes and cameras and look to the heavens tonight at 11:34 p.m. We're in for a "Super Moon" that astronomers say will be even more super than usual.

“The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993,” Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. told USA Today.

This Supermoon (a phrase coined by certified professional astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979) will appear especially large because its moment of perigee—when the moon is closest to Earth in its monthly rotation—will coincide with the appearance of a perfectly full moon.

(Noelle also believes that the proximity of the two heavenly spheres also increases the likelihood of extreme weather and tectonic activity due to the intensified gravitational pull--so watch your disaster-meters for the next two weeks.)

By comparison, in March 2011, the perigee and full moon were 50 minutes apart.

The best time to photograph a full moon though, experts say, is at “moonrise.” Moonrise on Saturday will take place at 7:55 p.m. When the moon is near the horizon, illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view, NASA reports. Low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.

Will the weather cooperate though? The National Weather Service is calling for mostly cloudy weather, with a low around 58 degrees Saturday night. 

The moon will be 221,802 miles away from Earth Saturday night; (the average distance is 238,855 according to NASA.) That’s 17,053 miles closer.

This all translates to a moon that will appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons this year, according to NASA. (An astronomer interviewed by National Geographic says 16 percent bigger.)

For anyone living close to water—a perigee full Moon brings with it extra-high “perigean tides,” but this is nothing to worry about, according to NOAA. Lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimeters (an inch or so) higher than usual. Local geography can amplify the effect to about 6 inches.

Taking any pictures of the moon tonight? Upload them to this story after!