DALLAS (WBAP & KLIF News) — The super moon comes once every year, but this year’s will be the largest it has appeared since 1948.
This year’s super moon will be visible Sunday night, Monday morning, and Monday night, according to NASA scientist Noah Petro, but the best time to view it he says will be Monday around 5:00 a.m.
“This is not something people have to wait up all night to see,” Petro said. “Especially for little kids, go out Sunday night or Monday night, and you’ll have a really beautiful full moon to look at.”
He says the reason we see a “super moon” every year is because the moon doesn’t rotate in a perfect circle around the earth, causing it to appear closer at certain times of the year. A super moon will be 14% larger than the smallest full moon, he says, and 7% larger than an average full moon. He also says it will be 30% brighter than the smallest full moon people are used to seeing.
With this weekend’s expected to the be largest in decades, and one that won’t be replicated until the year 2038, Petro encourages people to get out and witness this astrological rarity.
“Even a sample cell phone camera, you can take really nice pictures of the moon,” Petro said. “Sunday into Monday and Monday night, we’ll have this really beautiful moon in the sky.”
