A supermoon, which appears up to 30 percent brighter and 15 percent larger than other full moons. That's because the full moon — in which the sun, moon and Earth are approximately aligned and the sunlit face of the moon is facing Earth — occurs at the spot in the moon's orbit when our satellite is closest to our planet. Because of that closeness, the full moon appears brighter and bigger than normal. Sometimes an extra-special occurrence makes this bulging supermoon even more spectacular. That occurrence is the total lunar eclipse, when the moon moves behind Earth's shadow. Check out these spectacular images of supermoons and eclipsed supermoons.
