Missed the supermoon? Get another chance to see it early July 14

PETALING JAYA: The supermoon may have appeared over Malaysian skies on Wednesday (July 14) night – but for those who missed it, there’s another chance for a sighting early Thursday (July 14).

Bernama observed the phenomenon in George Town, Penang and posted photographs of it on their social media accounts late Wednesday.

The Malaysian Space Agency (Mysa) had announced that the phenomenon would occur at 5.09pm on Wednesday due to the position of the moon being at its closest to earth, referred to as perigee, with a distance of 357,263km.

“The moon revolves around the earth in an elliptical orbit with a mean eccentricity of 0.0549. Thus, the average distance of the moon from the earth (centre to centre) varies at all times, with the closest average distance (perigee) being 363,396km and the farthest average distance (apogee) being 405,504km.

“During a supermoon, a full moon can appear up to 7% larger than a normal full moon, and appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than a ‘micromoon’,” it said.

However, on Facebook, Mysa uploadead a graphic at 8.37pm Wednesday stating that there would be a supermoon phenomenon at 2.37am on Thursday (July 14).

Many Malaysians also posted their own photographs of the phenomenon on social media.