MAGIC MOON LOOKING JUST SUPER

STARGAZERS in the US and Britain enjoyed a dazzling experience on Sunday night as a supermoon rose across their skies.

It was the only supermoon in the US for 2017.

This phenomenon, bigger and brighter than a typical full moon, is what astronomers call a perigean full moon: a full moon occurring near or at the time when the moon is at its closest point in its orbit around Earth.

According to NASA, a supermoon can appear as much as 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than when a full moon is at its farthest distance from Earth.

In Britain, December’s full moon is traditionally known as the Cold Moon.

Tom Kerss, an astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich, said it would reach its highest point above the horizon about midnight. At 3.47pm – the exact moment of full moon – it was 358,499km from Earth, closer than the average distance of 384,472km.

The first supermoon of the year was visible on January 12.

Picture: AP A supermoon rises in front of a replica of the Statue of Liberty sitting atop the Liberty Building in downtown Buffalo, New York.