Supermoon: How and when to see the closest moon of the year

DES MOINES, Iowa —

The moon will look slightly bigger and brighter Wednesday night during the closest supermoon of the year.

Video above, from 2023: Rare blue supermoon lights up Iowa skies

The moon's orbit around the Earth isn't a perfect circle, so it gets nearer and farther as it swings around. A so-called supermoon happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA.

November's supermoon is the second of three supermoons this year and also the closest: The moon will come within just under 222,000 miles of Earth.

Tides may be slightly higher during a supermoon because the moon is closer to Earth, said astronomer Lawrence Wasserman with Lowell Observatory. But the d