Skygazers will be treated to an extra-bright "supermoon" on Monday night, the largest moon in 68 years.
According to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the full moon will get closest to the Earth this year on Monday. The moon's diameter will be 1.14 times the smallest one this year, and three times bigger in area.
Supermoons are caused by the shortening of the moon's distance to Earth, due to its elliptical obit, and the full moon. The distance between the moon and Earth is 384,400 km on average but narrows to 356,500 km on Monday.
Such a distance changes from year to year depending on the sun's gravity, but this year's will be the shortest since Jan. 26, 1948. The next time the moon will get this close to Earth will be in 2034.
According to the Meteorological Agency, skies will be mostly overcast or rainy in Japan on Monday night, but the big moon can be observed even after Monday.
