August Perigee Full Moon

The August Supermoon will shine this weekend, and when full it promises to be the biggest of 2014.

That July Supermoon grabbed so much attention last month, but the August Supermooon will top that – if you can get clear skies for viewing. Scientists say the August Supermoon will likely be 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than normal.

Just hope for clear skies, since yes, the next full super moon arrives Sunday, August 10.

“The Moon will reach perigee or its closest point to the Earth at 17:44 UT/1:44 PM EDT just 26 minutes prior to Full, at 55.96 Earth radii distant or 356,896 kilometres away,” reports Universe Today. “This is just under 500 kilometres shy of the closest perigee that can occur at 356,400 kilometres distant. Perigee was closer to Full phase time-wise last year on June 23rd, 2013, but this value won’t be topped or tied again until November 25th, 2034.”

That means moon watching will be good in the early evening hours of Saturday and Sunday as it comes up large, and full. The key, of course, is clear skies. Along the coast, skies will be variable with a 50 percent chance of rain – making moon watching dicey.

It is officially called a perigee full moon – lunar perigee is the moon’s closest point to the earth. And after this weekend, it won’t happen again until September 2015, or more than one year away.

So it isn’t exactly rare, but it isn’t an every day thing either.

“Generally speaking, full Moons occur near perigee every 13 months and 18 days, so it’s not all that unusual,” said Geoff Chester, of the U.S. Naval Observatory, according to Mashable. “In fact, just last year there were three perigee Moons in a row, but only one was widely reported.”