LAHORE: Pakistanis are in for a rare treat on Monday (Nov 14), a supermoon sighting, the meteorological department said on Friday.

It added that if the skies are clear, at around 6.52pm, the moon will appear 14 per cent bigger and 30pc brighter than a normal full moon.

The Met Office explained that the orbit of the moon around the Earth is elliptical, not circular, which causes a change in distance between the two.

This would be the largest, brightest full moon in nearly seven decades, Reuters added, promising Earth-bound sky-watchers a celestial spectacle.

The full moon will come nearer to the Earth than at any time since 1948, astronomers said. At closest approach, the moon will pass within 348,400 kilometres of Earth’s surface, about 35,400km closer than average, they added.

A supermoon occurs when the timing of a full moon overlaps with the point in the moon’s 28-day orbit that is closest to the Earth. About every 14th full moon is a supermoon, said University of Wisconsin astronomer Jim Lattis.

The next time a full moon comes as close to the Earth will be in 2034.

“If you could stack up full moons next to each other, there is clearly a difference,” Lattis said, but to a casual observer it is going to look very similar to a regular full moon.

“The difference in distance from one night to the next will be very subtle, so if it’s cloudy on Sunday, go out on Monday. Any time after sunset should be fine,” Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, said in a statement.

Published in Dawn November 12th, 2016