Be sure to check out the full moon on Saturday night, which promises to be super-sized. It’s called a “supermoon,” an overzealous way of saying old Luna is larger, brighter, and closer to Earth. Two more supermoons are set to rise on August 10 and September 9.
According to NASA, a supermoon occurs when the moon is full on the same day as its perigee, which is the point in its orbit when it's closest to Earth.
Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory said in a statement from NASA that it’s not quite the phenomenon we’d like to believe it is: "Generally speaking, full moons occur near perigee every 13 months and 18 days, so it's not all that unusual.” He goes on to say, "There's a part of me that wishes that this 'super-moon' moniker would just dry up and blow away ”
Still, if you’re looking for the best view on Saturday, July 12, SFGate suggests camping at Marin’s Angel Island and Mount Diablo in the East Bay, or taking a hike at Mount Tamalpais in Marin. If you’re an early bird or night owl, catch the moon at 4:26 a.m. to witness it at 100% peak fullness.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn out like April’s Blood Moon, which in San Francisco, was mostly obscured by fog.
