Last Supermoon of 2014 to be visible tonight

Zee Media Bureau/Irengbam Jenny

London: The last Supermoon of the year 2014 will be visible to the human eye on Tuesday, September 9.

It will be the fifth Supermoon of the year. The other four were seen in January, February, July and August.

Supermoons appears when the moon is closest in reach to the earth than usual and as much as 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter. The moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side (`perigee`) about 50,000 km closer than the other (`apogee`).

Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the moon`s orbit.

The super moon that occurred on August 10 was the closest and brightest of the lunar triad this year, when it approached the Earth at only 221,765 miles (356,896 kilometers).

Geza Gyuk, an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, says that the moon will be visible all night following the sunset, weather permitting.

There are actually six supermoons projected for next year–on January 20, February 18, March 20, August 29, September 28, October 27.