TYLER, Texas — Get ready East Texas for a spectacular view of the last super moon of 2023. It's happening Thursday night into Friday morning. What causes a super moon? The simple explanation is a super moon occurs when the moon is full and also at its closet point to Earth during its orbit.
When the moon is at perigee or its closest approach to Earth, it is 244,000 miles away. Since the moon's orbit is elliptical there are times when the moon is more than 250, thousand miles away. When the moon is at its farthest distance, it's known as the apogee.
There is something else special about the super moon Thursday night. It will also be the full Harvest moon. The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the fall equinox. The fall equinox this year was on Sept. 23. Folklore says it's called the harvest moon because farmers often use the moonlight for extra light to work later in the fields.
The last couple of times we've anticipated a meteor shower or planetary alignment, we've been covered in clouds and have missed out on many of these nighttime sights. But, not this time around, the weather looks wonderful.
Pleasant temperatures and lots clear sky as the super moon reaches peak illumination around 5 a.m. If you miss this super moon, the next one won't be visible until Sept. 18, 2024.
