How to spot November’s supermoon, the closest of the year

New York — The moon will appear a little larger and brighter Wednesday night during the closest supermoon of the year.

The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, so it gets closer and closer as it wobbles. The so-called supermoon occurs when the full moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit. This makes the moon appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than this year’s dim moon, according to NASA.

November’s supermoon is the second of three supermoons this year and is also the closest: The moon will come just under 222,000 miles (357,000 kilometers) from Earth.

Astronomer Lawrence Wasserman of Lowell Observatory said tides may be slightly higher during a supermoon because the moon is closer to Earth. But the difference is not very noticeable.

No special equipment is needed to view the supermoon if clear skies allow. But the change in the Moon’s size may be difficult to discern with the naked eye.

“The difference is most noticeable when comparing images or other observations,” Shannon Schmuhl, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, said in an email.

The supermoon phenomenon occurs several times a year. One in October will make the moon appear somewhat larger, and another in December will be the last of the year.