New England

Mark Your Calendar for the 1st Full ‘Supermoon' of 2017

This Sunday, Dec. 3, after sunset, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the first full moon supermoon of 2017! It happens to fall on the first full moon of the month, which is known as the "full cold moon."

This particular supermoon will be 17 percent brighter and seven percent larger than a typical full moon. The best time to see it is just after sunset, which is just after 4 p.m., depending on where you are across New England at that point in the evening.

In its orbit around Earth, the moon will be closest to us at 4 a.m. Monday morning at a distance of 222,443 miles. Since the moon’s orbit around the Earth is an oval, there are times where the moon is closer (at its closest, it’s considered at its "perigee") and when the moon is farther away (at its farthest distance, it is considered at its "apogee").

According to NASA, "supermoon" is not an astronomical term, so there’s no official definition or guideline for how close the full moon has to be near the perigee in order to be deemed a "supermoon."

Mark your calendars for the next few celestial events that are coming up over the course of the holiday season and into the next year.

Coming up mid-month, the Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on Dec. 14. If sky conditions are clear enough, you could see up to 120 meteors per hour shooting across the night sky.

Just in case you miss Sunday’s supermoon, you have two more opportunities in the next month! In January 2018, we have two supermoons: one on Jan. 2, which correlates with the "full wolf moon" and the second supermoon, correlating with the "full blue moon" on Jan. 31. 

Contact Us