Another supermoon is on the way. This Wednesday (13), the largest supermoon of 2022 will occur in our skies.
The name supermoon became popularly used to designate the coincidence between the full Moon, when its side facing the Earth is 100% illuminated, and the Perigee of the Earth’s natural Satellite, the point of maximum approach of the Moon in relation to our planet. —considering that its orbit is slightly flattened.
In short, supermoons are the biggest and brightest full moons we can see on our planet.
And when we say that the Moon will be closer to us, how close are we talking?
The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 380 thousand km. At apogee, the furthest point, it is more than 405,000 km away (when the full moon occurs during apogee, we have a “minimoon”). According to the specialized website Space.com, this Wednesday the Satellite is about 357 thousand km from Earth.
Despite a few tens of thousands of kilometers less in distance, to our view this difference is not that significant. A supermoon is about 7% larger than an average moon, which is relatively difficult to notice without instruments to measure the satellite’s size.
Furthermore, there is something commonplace about the event. The Moon reaches a perigee and apogee every 27.5 days, which, at certain times of the year, ends up coinciding with the full Moon and generating the “supermoon”. This year, for example, there was already another supermoon quite recently, in June.
How to see the phenomenon
Look up!
Basically, if you are able to look at the Moon, at any time, you will be seeing the supermoon.
If you want to go a little further in the observation, the Planetarium of Rio de Janeiro ( will have a session, from 18h, to visualize the phenomenon. On site, astronomers will be present and will be able to answer questions. Admission is free, but they will be distributed up to 100 tickets for the event, with entry about half an hour before the scheduled time.
Seeing the supermoon also depends on a little luck: the sky needs to be clear.
The Planetário do Rio is located at Avenida Padre Leonel Franca 240, in Gávea (Entrance through the Museum of the Universe), and has free parking. The event may be canceled depending on the weather situation.
