Supermoon, November 2016
A supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon or a New moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth.
The most recent supermoon occurred on November 14, 2016, the closest to Earth since January 26, 1948, and the next one like this will not be until November 25, 2034.
The moon turns precisely full on November 14, 2016, at 13:52 UTC. This full moon instant will happen in the morning hours before sunrise November 14 in western North America and on many Pacific islands, east of the International Date Line.
In Asia and Australia, the moon turns precisely full during the evening hours of November 14. In New Zealand, it actually happens after midnight November 15. Around the longitudes of Europe or Africa, look both nights.
Last month’s full moon – on October 16, 2016 – was also a supermoon. But the November full moon is even more super! In other words, the time of full moon falls even closer to the time of the moon’s closest point to Earth.
