Did You Miss the October Supermoon? No Sweat, there are Better Ones in November and December

WISCONSIN -- Mark your calendar, because there are two more supermoons left in 2016. The first supermoon was October 16, but if you missed it, that's okay. That's because the next one is expected to be one of the more spectacular ones.

A supermoon is typically up to 16 percent larger than a regular full moon and is also up to 30 percent brighter. The moon's orbit is oval-shaped, and at times can pass approximately 30,000 miles closer to Earth than usual. When that happens, the moon appears larger and brighter.

According to NASA, the full moon of November 14 is not only the closest full moon of 2016 but also the closest full moon to date in the 21st century. The full moon won’t come this close to Earth again until November 25, 2034.

NASA officials say the supermoon of December 14 is remarkable for a different reason: it’s going to wipe out the view of the Geminid meteor shower. Bright moonlight will reduce the visibility of faint meteors five to ten fold, transforming the usually fantastic Geminids into an astronomical footnote.

Astrophysicist Fred Espenak, a NASA scientist emeritus, lists the Oct. 16, Nov. 14 and Dec. 13 full moons as supermoons, and also includes the January 2017 full moon on the list. Their disagreement comes from ambiguity on how “90 percent of perigee” is measured.

Supermoons during the winter months tend to look larger than Supermoons that occur during the rest of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. At this time of the year, the Earth is closer to the Sun. Because of this, the Sun's gravity pulls the Moon closer to Earth, making any winter Super Full Moons look bigger than summer Perigee Moons.

— Includes reporting by Patch Editor Beth Dalbey
»Photo by Derek Keats via Flickr Commons