The biggest and the brightest full moon of 2020 will appear on April 8. Labelled as the Super Pink Moon, it will expected to appear in the skies at around 8 AM IST.
What is a Supermoon?
When full moon orbits closer to the earth than usual, it is known as a supermoon. It also appears to be larger and brighter.
While April's supermoon is not the only one this year, as previous instances in February and March have been recorded too.
April's supermoon is expected be just around 3,56,000 km from the earth, which is 28,000 km lesser than usual.
Why does a Supermoon occur?
As the moon's orbit takes place in an oval shape rather than a circle, there is always a closest and farthest point. When the moon is at the closest point to the Earth, it appears as a supermoon, and when it is at the farther point, it appears as a micro moon.
Supermoons occur 12-13 times every year. A data shared by a museum Adler Planetarium read: "Astronomers refer to supermoons as a perigean Full Moon. In the past 20 years, there have been 79 supermoons which averages out to one supermoon every three months. Supermoons tend to cluster so it is not unusual for one supermoon to be preceded by another."
