Waking Up To The Supermoon In Twin Falls Was A Trip

For those of you that didn't know, us earthlings have been privy to a rare celestial event for the past couple of days. You have probably noticed the moon has been brighter, and more colorful, the past couple of evenings. 

It was about 11:30 p.m., Tuesday evening (April 7), when my wife called me out to the backyard. "Come see the moon," she said. There in the sky to the south above Twin Falls, was a full "supermoon," in all its pink-tinged splendor. I didn't think to take any photos because my smartphone camera wouldn't have done it any justice.

It was at about 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, that I went to let our dog out for her morning squat, that I caught a great glimpse of it from across an alley behind our home. It still had slight color to it, but was no where near as impressive as the evening before. It was the largest supermoon of the year, according to NASA.

Thursday evening (April 9) will be the last of its kind for a while, as the next, closest full supermoon, isn't expected to occur again for 14 years. The phenomenon occurs when its (the moon) center is less than 224,000 miles from the Earth's center, according to NASA. The moon shines up to 30% brighter when this occurs.

The next full moon over North America is expected to happen May 7, 2020, but it will not be classified as a supermoon. So, we have Wednesday (April 8) and Thursday evenings (April 9) to enjoy this amazing occurrence, before our view of the moon changes back to its normal color and size.