Chances are you missed last night’s glorious supermoon, as overcast conditions were predominant over most of Ireland.
But you’ve got another opportunity to watch the lunar show tonight, providing there is a break in the cloud cover.
It will be the second last supermoon of this year (there will be another one on December 14, though not quite as striking), and one to behold, as all the circumstances are just right for an extra large, extra bright supermoon.
The Moon’s orbit follows an elliptical path around the Earth, averaging an eccentricity of 0.055. When our satellite is full at the perigee of this orbit, it is known as perigee full moon, or more colloquially, Supermoon.
A lot of celestial bodies affect the eccentricity of the lunar orbit through gravitational forces, however. The Sun, for sure, but also Jupiter, and many other bodies. Gravity alters the eccentricity of the Moon’s orbit and causes our satellite to sometimes pass closer to Earth.
And Earth’s heavenly partner will be at its closest to our planet since 1948. On Monday, the Moon will be just 221,524 miles away from us, a mere stone throw away in astronomical terms. The Moon will not be that close to Earth until 2034.
At its perigee, the Moon will look 14pc larger than normal. And it will appear a whole lot brighter than normal, too, as Earth’s journey through space takes it near the Sun at this time of year, and the Moon’s radiance will shine about 30pc more luminosity on Earth’s surface.
A similar event won’t come around for another two decades or so, so make sure you look skyward tonight!