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Second largest supermoon of the year to dazzle the sky this night
On this night, June 14, stargazers can visually enjoy a larger-than-usual moon. It is the second supermoon about to appear this year.
A supermoon occurs when a full moon reaches its perigee. There are usually 12-13 full moons each year, however, a supermoon is still rare as not every full moon is a supermoon due to the orientation of the moon's orbit.
The moon's orbit around Earth is elliptical, not perfectly circular. The distance between Earth and the moon can vary.
It takes the moon just over 27 days to orbit Earth on an elliptical path – from its most distant point from Earth at apogee to its closest distance at perigee.
When the moon's center is about 363,300 kilometers away from the center of Earth, it's called a perigee full moon, widely known as the "supermoon." The opposite phenomenon is called an apogee full moon, dubbed a "micromoon," when the moon is about 405,500 kilometers away from Earth.
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A supermoon can appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than when it is at its farthest from Earth. But for most casual observers, there may not be much difference when they look up to the sky without a side-by-side comparison. But photography can help to record changes in the moon's size.
A supermoon is also about 7 percent larger and 15 percent brighter than a regular full moon.
Source: CGTN
