'Super Moon 2012' Visible Tonight
It's the biggest full moon of the year.
If a moonbeam shines in your eyes as you lie in bed tonight, you might want to step outside and take a look. This will be the only "super moon" of 2012 -- as much as 30 percent brighter and 14 percent wider than other, ordinary full moons this year, according to NASA. That's because tonight will be the only night this year that the moon is both full and at perigee. Perigee is the point during its orbit when the moon is closest to earth. At perigee, the moon is about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) closer to earth than when it's at the most distant point in its orbit (apogee). So there's a big difference in brightness between the biggest and smallest moons. The average distance between the earth and moon is 238,000 miles (383,000 …
