June 2013 ‘Super’ Full Moon followed by ‘King’ tides

(Post updated 25 May 2013) A ‘Super Moon’ 30% brighter than an average Full Moon’s brightness will occur on Sunday 23 June 2013 (at 9:32 pm AEST). The Moon will appear larger than any other Moon of 2013 as June’s Full Moon occurs within 32 minutes of the Moon’s closest approach to the Earth for the year.

The reason for the increase in the apparent size of the Moon has to do with the Moon’s egg shaped or elliptical orbit. There is approximately a 50,000 kilometre difference between when the Moon is at its closest (perigee) and it’s furthest from the Earth (what is referred to as apogee). June 2013’s Full Moon will occur at almost the same time as the closest approach of the Moon to the Earth for the year at a mere 356,991 kilometers.

For South East Queensland, king tides for 2013 will occur the day after June’s ‘Super’ Moon as the Earth’s oceans respond to the pull of the Moon’s gravity. The next ‘Super’ Moon will occur on 10 August 2014.

More information about ‘Super Moons’ can be found on Wikipedia. Note that the News.com.au story Brighten up, the super moon is on the way about 2013’s Super Moon occurring in May 2013 is factually incorrect. The apparent size of the Full Moon for June 2013 is larger than May’s by one arc minute (confirmed by referring to the highly recommended Sky Safari Pro tablet app).