Supermoon on Monday to be closest since 1948

Big Islanders could be in for a treat early Monday with a rare, extra bright supermoon in the night sky.

The upcoming supermoon will be especially “super” because it’s the closest full moon to Earth since 1948, according to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Another supermoon like this will not occur until 2034.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu is calling for partly cloudy days and mostly clear nights with some afternoon and evening showers through Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday, forecasters expect partly cloudy skies with passing showers.

The moon’s orbit is slightly elliptical, so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it’s farther away. When the moon is full as it makes its closest pass to Earth, it is known as a supermoon. At perigee — the point at which the moon is closest to Earth — the moon can be as much as 14 percent closer to Earth than at apogee, when the moon is farthest from the planet, NASA said. The full moon appears that much larger in diameter, and because it is larger, it shines 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth.

On Monday, the moon will be at perigee at 1:22 a.m. Hawaii time and “opposite” the sun for the full moon at 3:52 a.m. Hawaii time.

Scientists say if you can’t schedule the exact times, don’t worry. The moon anytime between Sunday and Tuesday should be a sight to see.

“The difference in distance from one night to the next will be very subtle, so if it’s cloudy on Sunday, go out on Monday,” said Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.

Monday marks the second of three consecutive supermoons. The last supermoon of 2016 is Dec. 14.