Earthsky.org- 7/22/13, Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd
June 2013 supermoon over Punta Manara, Sestri Levante Italy. Photo via Maranathi.it Photography. The July supermoon might not look brighter to your eye, but watch for higher-than-usual tides in the days following it.
The July 2013 full moon falls today, July 22, 2013 at 18:16 UTC. This month’s full moon falls one day after July’s lunar perigee, which is the moon’s closest point to Earth for this monthly orbit. Astronomers will call this full moon a perigee full moon, but everyone else will call it a supermoon, according to a definition coined in recent decades by an astrologer. The predawn moon of July 22, before moonset, is closer to being super (in other words, closer to Earth) than the moon this evening. It is 2013′s third supermoon; nothing unusual in that because every year has several. Still, as the Farmer’s Almanac said some months ago, in the article that kicked off 2013′s supermoon mania:
With two or three full supermoons each year, they may not be unusual events, but for those who love looking up at the night sky, any excuse will do.
