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Why This November Supermoon Is Especially Unusual

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Tourists take photographs of the rising moon in Gauhati, India, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. (Anupam Nath/AP)
Tourists take photographs of the rising moon in Gauhati, India, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. (Anupam Nath/AP)

The full moon tonight will be the lightest, brightest and closest supermoon of the year. A supermoon occurs when a new or full moon is closest to Earth. And tonight's is an especially unusual one — that's because it will be the closest full moon to Earth since 1948.

Kelly Beatty (@NightSkyGuy), senior editor at Sky & Telescope Magazine, explains the phenomenon to Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson and Robin Young.

This article was originally published on November 14, 2016.

This segment aired on November 14, 2016.

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