8 things you need to know about the super moon

How many of these do you know?

Make sure you look out your window tonight as we are set to see another super moon. The moon will be closer to the Earth, making it look a lot bigger than usual. Here’s eight things you need to know…

1. Super moons occur when a full moon coincides with the moon’s lunar orbit at perigee, the closest point to the Earth. The full orbit takes about 13 months and 18 days, making about every 14th full moon a true super moon.

2. There will be no super moon in 2017 because the full moon and perigee won’t realign again after November 14, 2016 until January 2, 2018.

3. The moon will be 50,000km closer than usual which means we could see a 14 to 15 per cent increase in size, it will be 30 per cent brighter than the normal moon.

4. The moon that we see tonight will be the biggest super moon since 1948.

5. The tide is at its greatest when the moon is either new or full.

6. Super moons will get smaller in the distant future because the moon is slowly propelling itself out of Earth’s orbit, moving 3.8 centimeters further from Earth each year.

7. In the winter, super moons appear bigger than usual.

8. November’s full moon is known as a Beaver Moon. This is because this is the perfect time of year to set beaver traps. Every full Moon has a historic name related to activities or animals that were essential at that time of year, like Harvest Moon, Wolf Moon, Buck Moon and Sturgeon Moon.