By Fatima Raza People around the world got a glimpse of the second supermoon of the year brightening the night sky. Called the Beaver Moon, it reached its peak in the morning hours on Wednesday. Jesse Rogerson, an astrophysicist and York University professor, says a supermoon is only possible when the moon is at its closest point to earth and in its full phase. He says the moon, like other objects in space, doesn’t orbit in perfect circles. Instead, it follows an elliptical pattern. That means there is a point in time during its orbit when it’s closest to Earth and a point in time when it’s farthest away. These points are called perigee and apogee, respectively. Tuesday night’s full moon was at perigee, giving us the illusion of an… <\/p>\n
By Fatima Raza People around the world got a glimpse of the second supermoon of the year brightening the night sky. Called the Beaver Moon, it reached its peak in the morning hours on Wednesday. Jesse Rogerson, an astrophysicist and York University professor, says a supermoon is only possible when the moon is at its closest point to earth and in its full phase. He says the moon, like other objects in space, doesn’t orbit in perfect circles. Instead, it follows an elliptical pattern. That means there is a point in time during its orbit when it’s closest to Earth and a point in time when it’s farthest away. These points are called perigee and apogee, respectively. Tuesday night’s full moon was at perigee, giving us the illusion of an... <\/p>\n