When is the last full moon of the year?

Full moon in December

When is the next supermoon?

After last week’s supermoon, the next celestial spectacle will occur in December. After that, astronomy fans will have to wait quite a long time to witness the new supermoon.

After the supermoons in October and November, amateur astronomers are already looking forward to the next supermoon. This can be observed in early December. Therefore, the supermoon will be fully visible on December 5 at 12:14.

Although November’s full moon is the biggest supermoon of the year, December’s celestial event has special significance for astronomy fans, as it will take more than a year until the next supermoon can be observed in Germany.

Supermoon or super full moon is a term used for a full moon that is very close to Earth. The moon then looks bigger because it is only about 356,400 kilometers from Earth. At other times, the distance between the Earth and its satellites was more than 400,000 kilometers.

However, the apparent size difference between a supermoon and an average full moon is not as clear as the term supermoon: “The supermoon appears about 7 percent larger than the average full moon. It also shines about 15 percent brighter. A good comparison is between two and one euro coins,” explained Björn Boss of the Hamburg Planetarium to Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

However, the terms supermoon and superfull moon are not used in astronomy. There, the phenomenon is even referred to as “perigee full moon” because it coincides with the point in the moon’s orbit closest to Earth – perigee.

To be called a supermoon, the Earth’s satellite must be a full moon at the same time as perigee. This happens on average about three to four times a year. The moon then appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the “mini moon” far from Earth.

According to astronomers, this has little effect on our perception. What is more important is the weather conditions or how close the moon is to the horizon. The moon appears larger when viewed from close to trees or buildings. Then the human brain perceives the size of the moon relative to these objects. This phenomenon is called the lunar illusion.