DALIY MAIL
WASHINGTON
Saturday night was an astronomical phenomenon that may have completely passed you by.
If you looked up at the sky you would have seen a perigree moon, more commonly known as a supermoon. It happens when the moon is 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the farthest point in its orbit and the moon looks bigger and brighter.
In fact, it is just an optical illusion caused by its position in the sky.
It is not that uncommon. Last year we had three although only one made the news. This year we will also have three supermoons with the next occurring on August 10 and then on September 9.
It is the one in August that moon fans are really looking forward to with glee and anticipation. The moon will be 863 miles closer than last night’s. Geoff Chester at the US Naval Observatory said: ‘I guarantee that some folks will think it’s the biggest Moon they’ve ever seen if they catch it rising over a distant horizon, because the media will have told them to pay attention to this particular one.’