Fact: The moon is made of cheese. A supermoon has even more cheese than a regular moon.
All joking aside, here are some real supermoon facts that relate to the one that lit up the sky so bright on the evening of August 10-11, 2014:
- This was the second supermoon this summer. The first was on June 12.
- This supermoon was 14% bigger and appeared 30% brighter.
- It appeared brighter because it was 30,000 miles closer than it usually is at 190,000 miles from Earth as opposed to 240,000 miles from Earth.
- There will be another supermoon on September 9.
Bonus Astronomy!
The Perseid meteor shower is also taking place and began when the supermoon was still hanging around. It may have been tough to see with the moon's shine getting in the way but luckily the meteor shower will last through August 13. Optimum viewing times are early mornings and before dawn when you're likely to see 80-100 shooting stars per hour.