The biggest “supermoon” of 2020 will appear over San Diego on Tuesday night, and it could be the highpoint of your shelter-in-place evening—if the weather permits.
It’s a supermoon because it’s both full and near the closest point to Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit.
The moon’s closest approach — 224,000 miles — is at 11:08 a.m., and it becomes full at 7:35 p.m. That’s a little more than 20 minutes after sunset in San Diego.
According to the famous Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ, the moon will appear approximately 7% larger and 15% brighter. And an optical illusion always makes the moon appear larger when it’s close to the horizon, as will be the case when it turns full.
Of course, with a slow-moving Pacific storm in progress, the weather may not cooperate. The forecast for Tuesday night calls for showers throughout San Diego County.
This particular full moon is also known as a “pink moon” because of a pink wildflower that blooms on the East Coast in spring, a “paschal moon” because it is used to calculate the date for Easter, and a “Passover moon” because it marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday.