According to NASA scientists, saturday night's (January 10, 2009) moon will be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons. The big and bright full moon owes to it being very close to earth, called "perigee".
Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days.
The orbit is not a perfect circle. One portion is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to our planet than the farthest part, so the moon's apparent size in the sky changes. Saturday night the moon will be at perigee, the closest point to us on this orbit.
Perigee Full Moons come along once or twice a year. 2008 ended with one and now 2009 is beginning with another. NASA reports that "It's the best kind of déjà vu for people who love the magic of a moonlit landscape."
SOURCE: SCIENCE@NASA
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