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
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.