Supermoon 2013 Takes Place This Sunday

Supermoon 2013 is set to occur on Sunday, June 23.

A Supermoon happens when a full moon or a new moon coincides with the closest approach the satellite makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the moon's disk as seen from Earth.

Supermoon 2013 (Wikimedia Commons, Peter2006son)

According to NASA, Supermoon 2013 will be up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than a typical Full Moon is. This is a result of the Moon reaching its perigree - the closest that it gets to the Earth during the course of its orbit. This year the Moon will reach its closest distance to the Earth at exactly 7:32 am EDT (4:32 am PDT) on Sunday.

During perigree on Sunday, the Moon will be "only" about 221,824 miles away, as compared to the 252,581 miles away that it is at its furthest distance from the Earth (apogee). The Moon will actually be at apogee only two weeks after the Supermoon, on July 7.

The Supermoon had been linked to natural disasters such as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. However in both cases the Moon was actually farther from the Earth than average. No evidence has been found of any correlation with major earthquakes.

NASA said the effects on Earth from a supermoon are minor, adding  that the combination of the moon being at its closest to Earth in its orbit, and being in its 'full moon' configuration (relative to the Earth and sun), should not affect the internal energy balance of the Earth since there are lunar tides every day.