story posted at ABC NEWS dot-com -- Ned Potter Tweeted Report:
Tonight, if the full moon rising in the East strikes you as unusually large, you'll be right. It will loom larger than usual. Though it's hardly a scientific term, it will be what's known as a Supermoon.
If the weather is clear where you are, it should be a sight to see. It happens because -- despite what our senses tell us -- the moon does not orbit us in a perfect circle. It follows a slightly elliptical path every month. At 11:35 p.m. EDT, say astronomers, it will come within 221,802 miles of us -- coincidentally about one minute before it's at its fullest.
The result: When the moon is closest to Earth, it appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than when it's farthest from us. Two weeks from now, on the opposite side of its orbit, it will be about 252,000 miles away.
"The full Moon has a reputation for trouble," wrote Tony Phillips, an astronomer who maintains NASA's science news website. "It raises high tides, it makes dogs howl, it wakes you up in the middle of the night with beams of moonlight stealing through drapes.
PHOTOGRAPHY of past "Supermoon" -- at http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/supermoon-supermoon-large-full-moon-tonight/story?id=16285195
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