Dec 3, 2017

SPACE.com | Dec 2, 2017 | Full Moon Sunday Kicks Off 'Supermoon Trilogy,' Including a Lunar Eclipse (VIDEOS) |

Supermoon Rising: The Full Cold Moon Marks the First and Last Full Supermoon of 2017





The full moon falling on December 3, 2017, presents the year’s one and only full moon supermoon. Of 2017’s 12 full moons, only the December 2017 full moon comes close enough to Earth (222,443 miles or 357,987 km) to enjoy supermoon status.

The Moon will reach peak fullness at 10:47 am EST (15:47 UTC on Dec. 3). December's full moon is called the Full Cold Moon.

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Full Moon Sunday Kicks Off 'Supermoon Trilogy,' Including a Lunar Eclipse




The Dec. 3 full moon is the first of three consecutive supermoons, including a lunar eclipse. The other supermoons will happen on Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, 2018. You can watch Sunday's supermoon live online here, courtesy of the online astronomy service Slooh or directly from Slooh.com here.

If you only have time to catch one of them, be sure to check out the "extra-special" Jan. 31 supermoon, NASA said in a statement Friday (Dec. 1). The late January supermoon will take place during a total lunar eclipse visible from western North America, the Pacific and Eastern Asia. It will also be a blue moon, too. [Supermoon 2017 Guide: When and How to See It]

A supermoon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth, which is also called the perigee. That makes the moon look extra-close and extra bright — up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than a full moon at its furthest point from Earth, called the apogee.... [READ MORE]