Supermoon Can Be Seen Up Close at Nehru Planetarium

The Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi has set up telescopes for stargazers for a heavenly sight of the supermoon on Monday and Tuesday as the celestial body appears the brightest in nearly 70 years, an official said.

The two-day event to view the biggest supermoon since 1948 will begin at 8pm and continue until 10pm on Monday. The supermoon can again be witnessed on Tuesday after sunset till 10pm.

(Also see: What Is Supermoon and When Can I See It in India and Other Countries?)

Another supermoon like this will not be seen until 2034.

The moon's orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it's farther away. When the moon is full while it makes its closest pass to Earth, it is known as a supermoon.

At perigee, the point at which the moon is closest to Earth, the moon can be as much as 14 percent closer to Earth than at apogee, when the moon is farthest from our planet.

The full moon appears that much larger in diameter and, because it is larger, shines 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth surface, according to NASA.