This Weekend’s Stargazing Triple Threat: Harvest Moon, Eclipse and Possible Supermoon

Tonight marks a special occasion for many with their eyes to the sky: the rising of this year’s harvest moon. It’s the last full moon before 2016’s autumnal equinox on September 22. But there’s also a bit of controversy with some arguing whether this year’s harvest moon should also be considered a supermoon.

While the term “supermoon” might sound dramatic, it’s a relatively common phenomena. Sometimes it can seem as though there’s a supermoon announced every few months, but it isn’t actually an astronomical or scientific term. It was coined in 1979 by an astrologer named Richard Nolle and it really just means that the moon is within 90 percent of its closest orbit to the Earth, Blaine Friedlander and Angela Fritz report for the Washington Post. Both full moons and new moons can be considered “super,” though full ones tend to appear slightly larger than usual.

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