The moon is about to get really close to Earth — but don’t call it a supermoon
As it spins around Earth, the moon is about to reach its closest point to the blue planet.
On Sept. 10, the moon will reach the closest point to Earth along its elliptical orbit, referred to as the perigee, the Old Farmers' Almanac wrote. At this point in its orbit, the moon is approximately 225,623 miles away from Earth, according to Royal Museums Greenwich in London, which operates the Royal Observatory. The moon's regular distance from Earth is 238,855 miles.
When a full moon reaches perigee, it is referred to as a supermoon. But this upcoming moon will be in its waning gibbous phase, so stargazers have to wait a few weeks until the next full supermoon.
The next supermoon (and a full moon that reaches perigee), called the Harvest Moon, is scheduled to appear on Oct. 7, EarthSky wrote.
More news about the night sky
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