The moon is about to get closer to Earth than its been in almost 70 years

Look out your window early Monday morning.

(Image credit: iStock)

published 11 November 2016

It's getting closer.

The moon, that is — by Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. ET, our lunar companion will be at its nearest since 1948, and within just 85 miles of the closest it can possibly get to Earth, Space reports.

As a result, this is a good weekend to spend some time looking at the night sky. The moon will be at its brightest in nearly seven decades as it heads towards its Monday morning peak, when it will also be a full moon. At that point, it will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than normal. So-called supermoons aren't actually all that rare — they occur about every 14th full moon — but this weekend's will be the closest full moon until 2034.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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