New Year Supermoon

Somewhat of a rarity, a supermoon, sometimes referred to as a giant moon, occurs when a full moon's elliptical orbit coincidentally passes as close as physically possible to the earth (technically referred to as a perigee syzygy), thus causing the moon to appear significantly bigger than normal especially immediately after rising or before setting. This means that the moon appears to be about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter at these times. The red cast is also most prominent at these times and results from the reflected sunlight from the moon being refracted by the earth's atmosphere which is thickest, if you will, when the moon is at the lowest angles relative to the earth. Even more appropriate in this case since the supermoon happens on New Years Day and here was 99.9 percent full at moon rise. View is to the ENE.