Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
With Inputs from Dr A P Bhat, Poornaprajna College

Udupi, Dec 2: Brace for the celestial wonder of the year. The night sky on Saturday December 2 will appear brighter as the full moon would be a supermoon.

Supermoons happen when a full moon approximately coincides with the moon's perigee or a point in its elliptical orbit at which it is closest to earth. This makes the moon to appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than usual.

The average distance between the moon and the earth is 3,84,000 km, but at perigee, it is 3,56,000 km and at apogee, it will be 4,06,300 km. If the moon is a full moon and also if it is at perigee, it will be bigger and brighter and if full the moon is at apogee, it will be smaller and less brighter than usual.

On December 2 night, the distance between earth and moon will be 3,57,492 km. For people in the northern hemisphere, December full moon is called the cold moon, so tonight is a cold supermoon.