A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon reaching its closest distance—a point, known as perigee, that’s about 226,000 miles away—from the Earth in its 27-day orbit
The next full moon is expected to reach perigee Thursday night, coming within about 222,000 miles from the Earth, but it’s likely to become a supermoon as early as Wednesday
There have been two other supermoons this year on Aug. 19 and Sept. 18, and another is forecast for Nov. 15., however, the moon has not and is not expected to be as close to the Earth as it will this week.
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The moon will rise Wednesday starting at 5:46 p.m. EDT and become full around 11:35 p.m., according to NOAA. Espenak forecast the supermoon becoming full and reaching its closest point to Earth Thursday at 11:26 p.m. EDT.
Most of the central U.S. is expected to have clear skies Wednesday night, though some areas in some states including Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming and Nevada will likely be overcast, according to the National Weather Service.