Supermoon Calendar 2017
There are no more supermoons this year. The next super moon is in 2018
As the moon orbits the earth it does so in an elliptical manner, moving closer and further away. At its closest, or during perigee, it is in the region of 360,000 km (225,000 miles) away. If this point in the orbit coincides with a full moon phase it is often referred to as a "supermoon".
Technically speaking supermoon is not a scientific term but it is widely used to describe the phenomenon which occurs when the full moon is within 90% of perigee. The official name is perigee syzgy.
From earth a supermoon will appear slightly larger than usual - up to 17% larger than the smallest of full moons and considerably brighter.
When are the supermoon dates in 2017?
| Date | Relative dist* | Distance (Km) | Distance (miles) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12th Jan 2017 | 0.913 | 366,879 km | 229,299 mi |
| 4th Nov 2017 | 0.941 | 364,002 km | 227,501 mi |
| 3rd Dec 2017 | 0.99 | 357,983 km | 223,739 mi |
* The relative distance shows how close the Moon is to the closest point of its orbit - otherwise known as perigee. A value of 1 would mean it was the full moon exactly at perigee. Any value ofer 0.9 is considered a supermoon.