Smallest Full Moon of 2010

Tonight’s full moon (it actually became full at 11:05 AM MDT) will be the smallest looking of the year. That’s because tonight it will be at apogee, the most distant point in its monthly elliptical orbit around Earth.

There’s about a 12% variation in how large the moon appears when it is full at perigee (closest) and when it is full at apogee (farthest) like tonight. Tonight’s full moon is much dimmer too.

The moon was about 31,000 miles closer to us during 2010’s brightest full moon. That was January 29th.