Starwatch chart of July 11, 2022 showing the conjunction of the Moon with Saturn on July 16
This week is the moon because on July 13, the full moon will be a supermoon.
There is some debate about what constitutes a supermoon, but everyone agrees on the basic principle: it occurs when the full moon takes place at or near the lunar perigee, which means its closest approach to Earth. When the full moon occurs at or around this point in its orbit, it appears to be slightly larger and brighter than other full moons, and so is called a supermoon.
The term itself was coined by an astrologer named Richard Nolle in 1979. He defined a supermoon as any full moon that takes place within 90% of its closest approach to Earth. NASA has adopted this definition. Others make more complicated calculations.
But regardless of the details, this supermoon is the closest to the year. It will be “only” 357418 km (222,089 miles) above Earth. In fact, this is almost as close as any supermoon can be, as the precise moment of the full moon takes place only nine and a half hours after the perigee. The graph shows the conjunction of the Moon with Saturn taking place in the early hours of July 16th.