Moon to be closest to earth tomorrow

The moon will be closest to the earth tomorrow than it is on any other night in entire 2012 and hence it will appear significantly larger.

The phenomenon, called supermoon, this year coincides with `Buddha Purnima'. On May 6 at 9.05 pm, the distance between the earth and the moon will be 3,56,955 km, the closest this year, and the angular size of the moon will be 0.5515 degrees, scientists have said.

It is very interesting to note that on May 6, the moon will set at western horizon a few minutes before the sunrise and then it will rise again on the same evening about an hour after the sunset, Arvind Paranjpye, Director of Mumbai-based Nehru Planetarium said.

On the other hand, on November 28, the moon will be the farthest from the earth this year and the distance between the two will be 4,06,349 km. Thus, the full moon of May 6 will be about 11% bigger than the full moon of November 28.