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More Supermoons Still To Come In 2016
On October 16th a supermoon rose huge and heavy in the sky, dwarfing buildings and trees as it cast its light over the Earth, and creating a beautiful setting for photos.
If you missed it, never fear. Skywatchers will still have two chances to see a supermoon as the year draws to a close, including the largest full moon visible in our skies so far this century, National Geographic reports.
“Supermoon” originally referred to a new or full moon that occurs with the moon is within 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit, NASA says, but now refers more broadly to a full moon that is closer to Earth than average.
Friday’s supermoon was nearly 16,500 miles closer to Earth than it normally is on average, National Geographic reports. That translates to a moon that’s roughly 16 percent bigger than normal.
As impressive as that may be, it’s next month’s supermoon that will be the true monster: the closest full moon to date in the 21st century, NASA says. The full moon won’t come this close to Earth again until Nov. 25, 2034.
The supermoon of Dec. 14 will remarkable for a different reason: It’s going to wipe out the view of the Geminid meteor shower, NASA says. Skywatchers will be lucky to see a dozen Geminids per hour when the shower peaks.
https://weather.com/en-GB/unitedking...upermoons-2016
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