Giant Supermoon Brightens Skies Sunday Night
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If you looked up at the sky Sunday evening, you might have noticed the moon looked a lot bigger.
As CBS2's Raegan Medgie reported, the Sunday night supermoon is the biggest one we have seen on planet earth in almost 70 years.
High above the New York City lights, there was a brilliant glow from earth's closest neighbors stood out.
"Wow!" said Alec Richards of Washington Heights.
"It's big," said a youngster named Vivienne Kodak. "It's pretty and shiny."
The supermoon happens when the moon's elliptical orbit reaches perigee – its closest point – at the same time there is a full moon.
This one is a bit more special.
"It's going to be the closest the moon has been to the earth since January of 1948, so it's a unique opportunity to get out and admire our lovely neighbor in the sky," said NASA scientist Dr. Noah Petro. "The supermoon averages about 14 percent larger than the smallest full moon, that's about 7 percent larger than an average full moon."
Social media was flooded with supermoon photographs. Its glow was high above a city – at points outshining a city that is known for never sleeping.
"But it will also be not only larger but brighter in the sky -- about 30 percent brighter -- so you might actually notice that Sunday night, Monday morning, Monday night, it's a bit brighter outside," Petro said.
"It's really bright, and really bold; I'd say it looks HD," said Carlos Moreira of East Harlem.
"I'm lost in Central Park right now, with my phone dead, and I have the moon to guide me tonight, so I'm very thankful for that," said Zachary Vidrine.
NASA says closest approach will occur at 6:21 a.m. EST when the moon comes within 221,523 miles from the center of the Earth to the center of the moon. Full moon will occur at 8:52 a.m. EST.
A supermoon similar to the one on Sunday night will not be back until 2034.
