NPR

Dance By The Light Of The 2017 Supermoon: The How And When

The last and only visible such moon of 2017 will appear Dec. 3. The best time to see it is at sunset or the following morning at sunrise, when the moon is near the horizon.
A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter flies through NASA photographer Bill Ingalls' supermoon composition in 2012.

Between last year's historic November supermoon and August's partial solar eclipse, a lunar event that's coming on Dec. 3 has taken a bit of a back seat. But 2017's first and only visible supermoon is nothing to sneeze at.

The term "supermoon" is popular vernacular. Its scientific name is perigee syzygy. says the phrase means two specific things in reference to the moon's placement and phase.

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