Why is the moon so big and low tonight in the UK?

STARGAZERS are in for a treat TONIGHT (Friday, March 18) as a full moon will seem brighter and bigger the usual. But why does the natural satellite so much larger this evening than it normally does? Here's everything you need to know.

STARGAZERS are in for a treat TONIGHT (Friday, March 18) as a full moon will seem brighter and bigger the usual.

But why does the natural satellite so much larger this evening than it normally does? Here's everything you need to know.

When will we see the Full Moon tonight?

The true Full Moon is actually on Saturday morning at 7.18am.

But your best viewing time will probably be the evening of Friday.

It will be large from Thursday all throughout the weekend.

Why is the moon so big?

The moon will appear big tonight because of how illuminated it is.

It's opposite the Sun, so we can see its entirety.

Why will the moon appear to be so low?

When you see a moon low in the sky it is because you are seeing it through a greater thickness of Earth's atmosphere.

This is known as the "moon illusion", according to EarthSky.org.

When the moon is near the horizon you are looking at in comparison to familiar reference points such as trees, buildings, mountains, etc.

Your brain automatically compares the size of the moon to those reference points, which makes it appear bigger.

When the moon appears higher in the sky then there is nothing to compare it to and therefore also appears smaller.

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What is a full moon?

This spectacle occurs when the earth comes directly between the sun and the moon.

Because they occur every 29 and a half days, there are sometimes 13 a year - as there were in 2020.

Each month's full moon has a special name.

This is because Native American tribes kept track of the months of the year by the lunar calendar.

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