Look Up, NYC! Monday Night's Supermoon Will Be the Biggest in Nearly 70 Years

By Marc Torrence

NEW YORK, NY — Take a look up at the moon this clear Monday night, and you may notice it appears bigger and brighter than usual as it hangs in the sky.

That's not just your brain playing tricks on you. In fact, scientists say, it's the biggest the moon will have looked in nearly 70 years.

Nov. 14's full moon will be a supermoon, but those aren't particularly rare. October's full moon was a supermoon, and December's will be, too. But November's will be the biggest supermoon since 1948, according to Bob Berman, an astronomer at the Slooh Community Observatory. And NASA says the moon won't be this big again until 2034.

Here's what you need to know.

What is a supermoon?

The moon's orbit around Earth isn't a perfect circle. It's more oval- or egg-shaped, meaning the moon is continuously getting closer or farther away from us.

The moon's closest point to Earth is called "perigee," which is about 30,000 miles closer than the opposite, "apogee." When perigee lines up with the cycle of a full moon, it's known as a supermoon.

Supermoons can appear to be about 14 percent bigger in the sky and 30 percent brighter.

But the exact moments of a full moon and perigee hardly ever line up simultaneously. So the supermoons can vary slightly in size.

Which brings us to this month...

What makes November's supermoon so special?

This month's moon is going to be even super-er.

According to NASA, the moon will become "full within about two hours of perigee—arguably making it an extra-super moon." And the moon won't look this big until again until Nov. 25, 2034.

Bonus fact: the November full moon is traditionally known as the "beaver moon," being when hunters would go after the critters as they built their dams.

How can I see it?

Just look up!

There's nothing fancy about looking at a supermoon. No special equipment is required.

For Instagramming purposes, though, you might consider positioning yourself across the East River from the Manhattan waterfront (at Brooklyn Bridge Park, a pier in Williamsburg, etc.), so you can get the city's epic skyline in there for scale.

You could also choose to view the supermoon from city park with less light pollution, such as Inwood Park in Upper Manhattan. This way, you can see the moon at peak brightness, without all the city lights stealing the show.

And if you miss it, don't worry. You'll only have to wait 18 more years.

Lead image by Biswarup Ganguly/Wikimedia