This full moon is the closest and largest full moon of the year 2013.

Full moon falls on June 23, 2013 at 11:32 UTC (6:32 a.m. CDT in the U.S.). Thus, for many, the moon appears about as full in the June 22 evening sky as it does on the evening of June 23. This full moon is not only the closest and largest full moon of the year. It also presents the moon’s closest encounter with Earth for all of 2013. The moon will not be so close again until August, 2014. In other words, it’s not just a super moon. It’s the closest super moon of 2013.

The word “super moon” was first used 30 years ago by astrologer Richard Nolle, but has only come into popular usage since 2011

Astronomers call this sort of close full moon a perigee full moon. The word perigeedescribes the moon’s closest point to Earth for a given month.

Perigee moons are about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than moons on the far end of the body's orbit from Earth, according to NASA. And the full moon will enhance our perception of its size.

The moon is the easiest celestial object to find in the night sky — when it's there. Moon phases and the moon's orbit are a mystery to many. Because it takes 27.3 days both to rotate on its axis and to orbit Earth, the Moon always shows us the same face. We see the Moon because of reflected sunlight. How much of it we see depends on its position in relation to Earth and the Sun.

Though a satellite of Earth, the Moon is bigger than Pluto. Some scientists think of it as a planet (four other moons in our solar system are even bigger), though that viewpoint has never caught on officially. There are various theories about how the Moon was created, but recent evidence indicates it formed when a huge collision tore a chunk of the Earth away.

Orbital characteristics of Earth's moon

• Average Distance from Earth: 238,855 miles (384,400 km)
• Perigee (closest approach to Earth): 225,700 miles (363,300 km)
• Apogee (farthest distance from Earth): 252,000 miles (405,500 km)

Interesting Fact:

The moon's gravitational pull might have been key to making Earth a livable planet by moderating the degree of wobble in Earth's axial tilt, which led to a relatively stable climate over billions of years where life could flourish.

Observe holes like structures on the Moon through telescope?

We call those holes "craters.They are the places where many years ago meteors hit the surface of the moon and put dents into it. There are thousands of big craters, but even more little ones. There are probably millions of little craters on the moon! Craters on the Moon range in size from as small as one inch to over 100 miles across.

The Moon is very hot during the day but very cold at night. The average surface temperature of the Moon is 107 degrees Celsius during the day and -153 degrees Celsius at night.

Why are some parts of the moon darker than others?

The reason that some parts of the moon are darker is as follows: The dark parts of the moon are called "Maria". These parts of the moon during the heavy bombardment period (in the early solar system when meteors were MUCH more common) were hit by large enough meteors to penetrate the crust and were close enough to the mantle for molten metal to flow through the crater. The crater would fill with this molten metal which is rich with iron, giving off a darker look.

How did the moon get its name?

Old English word for the moon was mona. In Latin it was mensis. In Greek it was mene (mee-nee). The words moon and month come from the same roots. That is probably because a month was originally measured by the phases of the moon.

Year	Date	Distance
2011	March 19	356,575 km
2012	May 6	356,955 km
2013	June 23	356,991 km
2014	August 10	356,896 km
2015	September 28	356,877 km
2016	November 14	356,509 km

How often is moon both full and closest to Earth? Closest full moons recur in cycles of 14 lunar (synodic) months, because 14 lunar months almost exactly equal 15 returns to perigee (moon’s closest point to Earth). A lunar month refers to the time period between successive full moons, a mean period of 29.53059 days. An anomalistic month refers to successive returns to perigee, a period of 27.55455 days. Hence:

14 x 29.53059 days = 413.428 days
15 x 27.55455 days = 413.318 days

This time period is equal to about 1 year, 1 month, and 18 days. The full moon and perigee will realign again on August 10, 2014, because the 14th full moon after the 2013 June 23 full moon will fall on that date.

Looking further into the future, the perigee full moon will come closer than 356,500 kilometers for the first time in the 21st century on November 25, 2034 (356,446 km). The closest full moon of the 21st century will fall on December 6, 2052 (356,425 km).

For the moon to come closer than 356,400 kilometers (221,457 miles) is quite a feat. In fact, this won’t happen at all in the 21st century (2001-2100) or the 22nd century (2101-2200). The last time the full moon perigee swung this close to Earth was on January 14, 1930 (356,397 km), and the next time won’t be till January 1, 2257 (356,371 km).