Watch: India witnesses 'Supermoon,' first of two this month

New Delhi: India joined the rest of the world in witnessing the supermoon on Tuesday night, the first of the two this month. Explaining the phenomenon, astrophysicist Debiprosad Duari said the moon goes around the Earth once in 27.3 days in an elliptic orbit. As a result, at some point in its orbit, it will be farthest from the Earth, the distant point being called the apogee, and at some other time it will be closest to Earth, which is called perigee.

The last time two supermoons were seen in the same month was in 2018, and the next such phenomenon will be witnessed in 2037, he said. The 'supermoon' was visible from Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Punjab, but sky gazers in Kolkata missed it due to a thick blanket of clouds. From the Earth, a supermoon seems 7 per cent bigger and 16 per cent brighter than a normal full moon, he said.

The average distance between the Earth and its moon is 3,84,000 km. The distance can vary because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit around the Earth, and can range from 3,56,000 km at perigee to 4,04,000 km at apogee. On Tuesday night, the moon was at a distance of 3,57,530 km from the Earth, he said. On August 30, the moon will be even closer -- 3,57,344 km from the Earth, Durai said. (PTI)

Also read:In Pictures: The first supermoon in August rises around the world