DENVER – The past few months have been great for skywatchers: A total solar eclipse, several meteor showers and now a supermoon.
Supermoons aren’t especially rare – some years have several of them – but this weekend’s full moon is the only supermoon of 2017. December’s full moon is also commonly called the “Cold Moon.”
A supermoon occurs when the full moon coincides with the moon’s perigee – the point of orbit when the moon is closest to the earth – which makes the moon look slightly larger and brighter than usual. At most, the moon will be about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons, according to NASA.
The moon officially reaches its fullest point at 8:46 a.m. MT on Sunday, Dec. 3., according to timeanddate.com.
In Denver, the weather should be favorable for seeing the supermoon. Saturday and Sunday will be mostly sunny but clouds will be increasing on Monday.
If you miss this weekend’s supermoon, don’t fret – NASA says there will be two more in January and February.
To learn more about the supermoon, head over to jpl.nasa.gov.