Click here for details on the April 7-8, 2020, supermoon

A supermoon is a new or full moon closely coinciding with perigee, the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit. According to the original definition of supermoon – coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 – a full moon or new moon has to come within 90% of its closest approach to Earth to be dubbed a supermoon. In other words, any full moon or new moon that comes to within 224,865 miles or 361,885 km (or less) of our planet, as measured from the centers of the moon and Earth, can be called a supermoon, according to Nolle’s original and extremely generous definition. That’s why you might hear about a number of supermoons in any given year.

We figure out “90% of the moon’s closest approach to Earth” by the year’s closest perigee (moon’s closest point to Earth for the year) and the year’s farthest apogee (moon’s farthest point from Earth for the year). In 2020, the closest perigee is 221,772 miles (356,907 km). The farthest apogee is 252,707 miles (406,692 km). So – reckoning it this way – any full moon or new moon coming closer than 224,865 miles (361,885 km), as measured from the centers of the Earth and moon, counts as a supermoon in 2020.

Full moon supermoons:

The second of these full moon supermoons, on the night of April 7-8, 2020, is the closest full moon supermoon of 2020. This April 2020 full moon will more closely align with lunar perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit – than any other full moon in 2020.

Lunar perigee on April 7, 2020, at 18:08 UTC: 221,772 miles (356,907 km) Full moon on April 8, 2020, at 2:35 UTC: 221,851 miles (357,035 km)

Of course, the closest and therefore the biggest full moon of the year will cause larger-than-usual perigean spring tides, which people living near the coast will surely see and discuss.

Read more: Tides and the pull of the moon and sun

By the way, the most distant and smallest full moon of the year will fall on October 31, 2020. Sometimes called a micromoon, it’ll be 252,380 miles (406,166 km) away. That’s a whopping 30,529 miles (49,131 km) farther away than the year’s closest and biggest full moon on April 8, 2020.

New Moon supermoons:

September 17, 2020: 223,828 miles (360,216 km) October 16, 2020: 221,797 miles (356,948 km) November 15, 2020: 222,666 miles (358,347 km)

The second of these new moon supermoons, on October 16, 2020, will present the closest new moon supermoon of 2020. This October 2020 new moon will more closely align with lunar perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit – than any other new moon in 2020.

New moon on October 16, 2020, at 19:31 UTC: 221,851 miles (356,948 km) Lunar perigee on October 16, 2020 at 23:46 UTC: 221,775 miles (356,912 km)

The closest new moon of the year (like the year’s closest full moon) will cause larger-than-usual perigean spring tides.

Read more: Tides and the pull of the moon and sun

Some astronomers complain about the name supermoon. They like to call supermoons hype. But supermoons aren’t hype. They’re special. Many people now know and use the word supermoon. We notice even some diehards are starting to use it now. Such is the power of folklore.

Before we called them supermoons, we in astronomy called these moons perigean full moons, or perigean new moons. Perigee just means near Earth.

The moon is full, or opposite Earth from the sun, once each month. It’s new, or more or less between the Earth and sun, once each month. And, every month, as it orbits Earth, the moon comes closest to Earth, or to perigee. The moon naturally swings farthest away once each month, too; that point is called apogee.

No doubt about it. Supermoon is a catchier term than perigean new moon or perigean full moon. That’s probably why the term supermoon has entered the popular culture. For example, Supermoon is the title track of Sophie Hunger’s 2015 album. It’s a nice song! Check it out.

The hype aspect of supermoons probably stems from an erroneous impression people had when the word supermoon came into popular usage … maybe a few decades ago? Some people mistakenly believed a full supermoon would look much, much bigger to the eye. It doesn’t. Full supermoons don’t look bigger to the eye than ordinary full moons, although experienced observers say they can detect a difference.

But supermoons do look brighter than ordinary full moons! The angular diameter of a supermoon is about 7% greater than that of the average-size full moon and 14% greater than the angular diameter of a micro-moon (year’s farthest and smallest full moon). Yet, a supermoon exceeds the area (disk size) and brightness of an average-size full moon by some 15% – and the micro-moon by some 30%. For a visual reference, the size difference between a supermoon and micro-moon is proportionally similar to that of a U.S. quarter versus a U.S. nickel.

So go outside on the night of a full supermoon, and – if you’re a regular observer of nature – you’ll surely notice the supermoon is exceptionally bright!

What’s more, Earth’s oceans feel the extra pull of supermoons. All full moons (and new moons) combine with the sun to create larger-than-usual tides, called spring tides. But closer-than-average full moons (or closer-than-average new moons) – that is, supermoons – elevate the tides even more. These extra-high spring tides are wide ranging. High tides climb up especially high, and, on the same day, low tides plunge especially low. Experts call these perigean spring tides, in honor of the moon’s nearness. If you live along an ocean coastline, watch for them! They typically follow the supermoon by a day or two.

Do extra-high supermoon tides cause flooding? Maybe yes, and maybe no. Flooding typically occurs when a strong weather system accompanies an especially high spring tide.

How often do we have supermoons? Often! But of course it depends on your definition of supermoon. Here’s a list of the year’s closest supermoon perigees from 2010 to 2020 (they all came closer than 357,000 kilometers or 221,830 miles):

January 30, 2010 (356,593 km or 221,577 mi) March 19, 2011 (356,575 km or 221,565 miles) May 6, 2012 (356,955 km or 221,802 miles) June 23, 2013 (356,991 km or 221,824 miles) August 10, 2014 (356,896 km or 221,765 miles) September 28, 2015 (356,877 km or 221,753 miles) November 14, 2016 (356,509 km or 221,524 miles) January 2, 2018 (356,565 km or 221,559 miles) February 19, 2019 (356,761 km or 221,681 miles) April 8, 2020 (356,907 km or 221,772 miles)

There wasn’t an extra-close perigee in 2017 (by “extra-close,” we’re considering moons less than 357,000 kilometers or 221,830 miles from Earth). After November 14, 2016, the extra-close coincidence of full moon and perigee didn’t happen again until January 1-2, 2018.

Looking farther into the future, the perigee full moon will come closer than 356,500 kilometers (221,519 miles) for the first time in the 21st century (2001-2100) on November 25, 2034 (356,446 km or 221,485 mi). The closest full moon of the 21st century will fall on December 6, 2052 (356,425 km or 221,472 mi).

By the way, some astronomers call the full moons listed above proxigee full moons. The word proxigee just means an extra-close perigee.

But, like many of you, we’ll have fun just calling ’em supermoons.

So, just how much closer are these close full and new moons? This year, 2020, the moon at its closest point to Earth resides 221,772 miles (356,907 km) away. At this juncture, the moon is said to be at 100% of its closest approach for the year.

In 2020, the moon at its farthest point swings out to 252,707 miles (406,692 km) from Earth. At that time, the moon is said to be at 0% of its closest approach.

At its closest point for the year, the moon is roughly 30,000 miles or 50,000 km closer than when the moon is most distant.

The recurring cycle of supermoons

The full moon supermoon series of 2020 will recur after 14 lunar months (14 returns to full moon). That’s because 14 returns to full moon almost exactly equal 15 returns to perigee, a period of about one year, one month, and 18 days.

The mean lunar month (full moon to full moon, or new moon to new moon) = 29.53059 days, whereas the mean anomalistic month (perigee to perigee, or apogee to apogee) = 27.55455 days. Hence:

14 lunar months (14 returns to full moon) x 29.53059 days = 413.428 days

15 anomalistic months (15 returns to lunar perigee) x 27.55455 days = 413.318 days

Given that supermoons recur in cycles of 413 days (about one year, one month and 18 days), we can can expect the full moon supermoons to come about one month and 18 days later next year, in 2021.

Full moon distance (April 27, 2021): 222,212 miles or 357,615 km

Full moon distance (May 26, 2021): 222,117 miles or 357,462 km

Full moon distance (June 24, 2021): 224,662 miles or 361,558 km

The new moon supermoon series will also recur after 14 lunar months (14 returns to new moon). Thus, we’ll have new supermoons on November 4, 2021, and December 4, 2021 – and then January 2, 2022.

Bottom line: The full moons of March, April and May 2020 are supermoons. The new moon supermoons of 2020 will be the new moons of September, October, and November 2020. The closest and brightest full supermoon of the year is the night of April 7-8, 2020.

Read more: Year’s biggest supermoon on the night of April 7-8, 2020

Read more: Why experts disagree on what’s a supermoon

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