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Last super moon year will also reach higher in the sky than any other full moon of the year, reaching its peak on Thursday evening.
The December full moon, known as the Winter Moon, is the third part of four supermoons in a rowDue to which it appears bigger and brighter.
The Moon’s orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle, so it gets closer and farther away as it rotates.
When the full Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit, a so-called supermoon occurs. According to NASA, this moon appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the weakest moon of the year.
“A supermoon occurs when the full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point known as perigee,” the US space agency said in a blog post.
“During each 27-day orbit around Earth, the Moon reaches its perigee, about 226,000 miles (363,300 km) from Earth, and its farthest point, or apogee, about 251,000 miles (405,500 km) from Earth.”
Taking advantage of the sweet spot in the Moon’s elliptical orbit, supermoons occur in clusters a few times a year.
The supermoon can be seen in a clear night sky without any special equipment. But subtle changes may be difficult to detect with the naked eye.
The latest forecast from the Met Office shows there will be relatively good visibility for people in England when the full moon peaks at 11:14pm (GMT), with clear skies over much of the country.
Whether or not there is a supermoon, the Moon still appears larger when it is close to the horizon, a phenomenon called the moon illusion. This is a strange visual trick that experts have not yet been able to explain.
“When you have a supermoon, that effect is a little more impressive,” said astronomer William Alston of the University of Hertfordshire.
The tides may be slightly higher during a supermoon because the Moon is closer to Earth, but still, the difference is not very noticeable.
There will be another supermoon on January 3 – the last in this series. After this, the next supermoon will not occur until November 24, 2026.
Additional reporting from agencies.