The moon’s orbit around the Earth has a bit of a wobble. The moon moves both higher and lower in the sky, rising and setting both north and south of due east and west. It also varies in how close or far away it may be during it’s roughly four week orbit around the Earth. When the moon is at its nearest point in the orbit, called the perigee, the moon is actually slightly larger in the sky and is called a super moon.
During the most recent full moon (3/5/15), the moon was at its orbital apogee, or furthest point away during its orbit, and was some 30,000 miles further than when it is at its closest. So this month’s full moon was a ‘mini’ moon and was some 14% smaller, and reflected about 30% less light to the Earth than when it is a ‘super’ moon. It’s still just as pretty though, especially when setting over the Adirondack High Peaks in the morning sky.
