After a first Super Full Moon in March and a second in April, the last phenomenon of its kind has now arrived in 2020. The Moon will become 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual during the nights of 6 to 7 , and from May 7 to 8. The Lisbon Astronomical Observatory (OAL) also reveals that if the Moon is observed close to the horizon it will look even bigger, with an extra increase of about 5%
The OAL indicates that, on the 6th, the best time to observe the phenomenon is at the time of the Moon's birth, at 19h35 in Lisbon, 19h36 in Porto, 19h34 in Coimbra, 20h00 in Funchal and 19h43 in Ponta Delgada.
On the 7th, the best time to see Super Lua Cheia comes at 20h50 in Lisbon, 20h53 in Porto, 20h50 in Coimbra, 21h11 in Funchal and 20h58 in Ponta Delgada.
At a time when social isolation continues to be a reality for a large part of the population, you can also watch Super Full Moon on the Internet, with the help of the virtual telescope of the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy. The live video from Rome will be broadcast on the 7th from 7:30 pm, Lisbon time.
According to the OAL, the explanation behind the phenomenon is due to the fact that the Moon reaches the minimum distance from the Earth a few hours after the Full Moon phase occurs. While the lag between the two moments in April was only 8:28 am and 1:00 pm in March, the last Super Moon was 32:43 pm.
In March, it was between the night of the 9th and the 10th that the Full Moon phase occurred. It is estimated that during the phenomenon the Moon approached a distance of 357,121 km from Earth. Between the night of the 7th and the 9th of April, the approach was 356,906 Km. Remember some of the previous Super Full Moons in the photo gallery.
