The moon appeared brighter and bigger than normal because it was closer than usual, just 222,159 miles (357,530 kilometers) away, thus the supermoon label. A bigger and brighter moon lit up the night skies above Johannesburg on Tuesday evening as the cosmos offered up the first of two supermoons this August.
Supermoon shines in skies above Johannesburg
Supermoon shines in skies above Johannesburg
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The moon appeared brighter and bigger than normal because it was closer than usual, just 222,159 miles (357,530 kilometers) away, thus the supermoon label.
The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30 — a scant 222,043 miles (357,344 kilom eters) distant.
Due to it being the second full moon in the same month, it will be what’s called a blue moon.
The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018.
It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.