August super moon 2015

The full moon of August 30, 2015, was a super moon.

The name ‘super moon’ comes from the appearance of the moon – it appears about 12% larger than usual. And it seems to shine brighter (scientists say 25-30 times brighter) than usual. This is because the moon is actually closer to Earth than usual.

The distance from the Earth to the moon during a super moon is 360,000 kilometres.The average distance is 384,400 kilometres (238,900 miles).

A super moon is unusual because it occurs only 3 to 4 times a year (not every month). However, this August super moon was the first one for this year. The next super moon is September 29, 2015.

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