Harvest Supermoon Seen Worldwide; Run Begins

On Monday night, skywatchers worldwide saw a luminous Harvest Moon that was also a supermoon, appearing brighter and slightly larger because the full moon was near perigee. NASA and other outlets note a supermoon can look about 14% bigger and 30% brighter, and this full moon passed within roughly 224,600 miles (361,459 km) of Earth. The sight launched a run of closely spaced supermoons that most reports call the first of three—one local account described it as the first of four—with additional supermoons expected in November and December. Its timing near the autumnal equinox meant the Harvest Moon rose near the same time on successive evenings and appeared largest on the eastern horizon at moonrise. The bright moon washed out fainter stars but produced striking photographs worldwide—from Spain and Rome to the UK, Taiwan, Australia and the U.S.—drawing photographers and amateur astronomers.