Super Duper!

Wow, the moon is going to be HUGE tonight!

   Moon-gazers, this is your night! Tonight, the moon makes its closest approach to Earth in 18 years, and it’ll be big and bright. This phenomenon is known as a super moon.

   STORY , 5A  

A really big show

Rare lunar event to be easy to see

By DOYLE RICE USA TODAY

   We haven’t seen a moon this big in almost 20 years.

   Tonight, this unusually large full moon — known as a super moon — will rise in the east.

   “The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993,” says Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. “I’d say it’s worth a look.”

   Why the “super moon” label?

   “A super moon is a situation when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average, and this effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same time as a full moon,” said James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

   This month’s perigee will put the moon about 8% closer to Earth than usual — about 221,565 miles at its closest point.

   According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it’s nothing to worry about. In most places, lunar gravity when the moon is normally close to Earth pulls tide waters only about an inch or so higher than usual. Don’t be concerned about other natural disasters: The super moon of March 1993 passed without incident. And an almost-super moon in December 2008 proved harmless, too.