Spacewatch: total lunar eclipse and largest supermoon of the year
by Stuart Clark from on (#5J68R)
Although the full supermoon will be easily seen from Europe and Africa, sadly the eclipse will not be
The moon will be full on 26 May. This will coincide with the largest supermoon of the year, and also the first total lunar eclipse since January 2019.
Although precise definitions vary, a supermoon is said to occur when the full moon takes place near the closest point in its orbit to the Earth. This week, the centre of the moon will be 357,462km away from the centre of the Earth. This is roughly 48,000km closer than the furthest full moon of the year, which will occur in December 2021.
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