Monday’s supermoon will be the largest and brightest moon in over half a century

Get ready for the largest and brightest “supermoon”  in over half a century that will be visible from Sunday night through Monday night.

This full moon will appear more than 15 percent larger and 30 percent brighter compared with the smallest full moons on Nov. 14. It’ll be impressive looking on Sunday, Nov. 13, too, assuming the sky is clear to see it either night.

According to Space.com, on November 14 the moon will be closer to the earth than it has been since 1948, and will not occur again until November 25, 2034.

Why is this Supermoon different than the others?

The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it’s farther away. When the moon is full as it makes its closest pass to Earth it is known as a supermoon, according to Nasa. At perigree — the point at which the moon is closest to Earth — the moon can be as much as 14 percent closer to Earth than at apogee when the moon is farthest from our planet.

The full moon appears that much larger in diameter and because it is larger shines 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth.

To break it down, three things are occurring to make this spectacular sight:

1. A full moon
2. The full moon is occurring when it’s at the closest position to Earth.
3. And third, Earth is at the closest position to the sun.

Better yet, watch this quick video by NASA: