© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

Supermoon To Shine Over Idaho Sunday

Bill Ingalls
/
NASA

This Sunday, Idahoans will be treated to a bigger, brighter moon in the evening sky. It's called a supermoon and it only happens once this year.

Here's how a supermoon works, according to Brian Jackson, physics professor at Boise State University:

“A supermoon occurs when the moon is full and it is at its closest point in its orbit to the Earth, which is called perigee,” says Jackson.

He says the moon’s path around the Earth is oval-shaped, or elliptical. That means sometimes it’s closer to the planet and sometimes farther away. Jackson says when it comes this close, you’ll notice the difference.

“When the moon is closer to the Earth, all other things being equal, it’s going to be brighter, because when things are closer they often are brighter, about 10 percent brighter than a normal full moon,” Jackson says.

If it's not cloudy, you can see the supermoon on Sunday afternoon and evening in Idaho. And the moon will be a little brighter a day or two before and after the main event. Jackson and the Physics Department at Boise State will have telescopes up Friday to let you get a closer look at the moon. There will also be a talk about looking for water on Mars, the moon and asteroids.

Here's a cool look at a supermoon from NASA in November of 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The supermoon, rises above the launch pad at Launch Complex 1 Nov. 14, where the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft stands poised to liftoff following its transport to the pad for final pre-launch preparations:

Find Samantha Wright on Twitter @samwrightradio

Copyright 2017 Boise State Public Radio

As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life!). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.