Upcoming 'supermoon' on June 23
This year's closest and largest full moon will occur on June 23 at precisely 11:32 Universal Time (3:32 Yerevan time). It will not only be the closest and largest full moon of the year, but will also present the moon's closest encounter with Earth for all of 2013.
In other words, it won't just be a supermoon, it will be the closest supermoon of the year, and such proximity to our planet will not be repeated again until August 2014.
Astronomers call this sort of close full moon a perigee full moon. The word perigee describes the moon's closest point to Earth for a given month. Two years ago, when the closest and largest full moon fell on March 19, 2011, many used a term we'd never heard before: supermoon. Last month's full moon - May 24-25, 2013 - was also a supermoon. But the June full moon is even more super! The closer the timing of a full moon to the time of perigee, the closer the moon will be to Earth. This month, the crest of the moon's full phase and the perigee fall within an hour of each other.
Astronomers explain that, on said date, the moon will be particularly close to our planet. Because of this, it will appear some 14% bigger and 30% brighter than it usually does.
