Everything you need to know about Thursday's supermoon
The last supermoon of the year lit up the skies over Alberta on Thursday night.
Supermoon, a term coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 refers to a full moon at perigee.
What is perigee? Well, our moon orbits Earth in an ellipse(oval) pattern, so there is a point where the moon is at it's most furthest and closest distances to Earth.
When the moon's orbit is closest to the Earth it is at perigee, alternatively when the moon is at it's furthest point it's called the apogee.
Thursday night the moon was at perigee with Earth, making it look bigger and brighter than an average full moon.
In some cases the moon can appear as much as eight per cent larger than a full moon at it's average distance from Earth and up to 14 per cent larger than a full moon when at it's furthest distance from the earth (apogean full moon).
The moon can also appear 30 per cent brighter too.
Also, not only was Thursday night's full moon a supermoon, but it was also a Sturgeon Moon. Sturgeon Moon is a name used by The Old Farmer's Almanac.
At different points in the year full moons were given 'nicknames' according to their occurrence with what was happening at that time.
In North America, Indigenous groups and European settlers came up with these alternate names. S
turgeon Moon (August's full moon) came from the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain regions as this is when the Sturgeon fish were most readily caught.
Here are a few alternate August moon names, Harvest Moon (Dakota), Corn Moon (Algonquin) and Ricing Moon (Anishinaabe).
The next supermoon will be on August 1, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.