A statement from NASA says that December’s supermoon was the first of a trilogy of supermoons, as its set to reappear on the celestial stage on January 1 and 31, 2018.
A supermoon is a Full Moon when it is also at its closest point to the Earth on its orbit. Since the Moon’s orbit is elliptical, one side (apogee) is about 50,000 km farther from the Earth than the other (perigee).
The nearby perigee Full Moons appear about 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than Full Moons that occur near the apogee in the Moon’s orbit.
“The supermoons are a great opportunity for people to start looking at the Moon, not just that once but every chance they have!” said Noah Petro, a research scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre. December’s Full Moon is traditionally known as the “cold moon”.
