The moon’s orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle. It is shaped like an oval. The moon is about 48,000 kilometers closer to Earth on one side of its orbit than the other. A supermoon happens when the Earth is between the sun and the closer-than-usual moon.
The sun lights up the moon during the Earth’s nighttime, and since it is closer than usual, it looks very large and bright.
Last weekend’s supermoon was the first of three supermoons of 2016. The next supermoons will take place on November 14 and December 14. The November supermoon will be “extra super.” In fact, it will be the closest full moon of the 21st century, so far. The full moon will not be that close to Earth again until the year 2034.
Many people who saw the October supermoon took pictures. Bruce Neumann took a photo in New York City of the moon above the Statue of Liberty.