1 00:00:00,010 --> 00:00:03,020 Coming up on November 14 is 2 00:00:03,020 --> 00:00:06,020 a supermoon, the closest moon to Earth since 1948. 3 00:00:06,020 --> 00:00:09,210 Here to tell us a little bit about it is Dr. Alex Young. 4 00:00:09,210 --> 00:00:14,220 So what is a supermoon and what this one so super? 5 00:00:14,220 --> 00:00:19,410 Well a supermoon is what happens when the moon is 6 00:00:19,410 --> 00:00:24,590 within 90% closest approach as it orbits the Earth 7 00:00:24,590 --> 00:00:29,600 also a full moon and this one is extra special because 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,620 it is the closest approach we've had during 9 00:00:32,620 --> 00:00:36,810 a full moon since 1948. 10 00:00:36,810 --> 00:00:39,830 When is the best time to see the supermoon 11 00:00:39,830 --> 00:00:43,840 and will it look different from other full moons? 12 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:45,860 Well you can go out on Saturday night, 13 00:00:45,860 --> 00:00:47,880 Sunday night or Monday night 14 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:49,890 and as long as there is a clear sky 15 00:00:49,890 --> 00:00:51,890 when the moon is up 16 00:00:51,890 --> 00:00:54,090 you're going to get to see a moon 17 00:00:54,090 --> 00:00:58,100 that's 14% bigger and 30% brighter. 18 00:00:58,100 --> 00:01:02,290 So it's going to give everyone a spectacular show. 19 00:01:02,290 --> 00:01:06,310 Many of our viewers will be amazed to hear that NASA 20 00:01:06,310 --> 00:01:09,330 has had a spacecraft orbiting over 7 years. 21 00:01:09,330 --> 00:01:12,360 What's the most surprising thing you've seen? 22 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,370 So over the past 7 years 23 00:01:15,370 --> 00:01:18,400 NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) 24 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,410 has been orbiting the moon giving us a spectacular 25 00:01:21,410 --> 00:01:24,470 view, mapping the surface, 26 00:01:24,470 --> 00:01:26,650 showing it's impact craters 27 00:01:26,650 --> 00:01:28,660 telling us an awful lot about 28 00:01:28,660 --> 00:01:30,680 how the moon was formed and how its evolved 29 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,700 over time. But one of things 30 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:34,710 that's been so amazing is we've come 31 00:01:34,710 --> 00:01:36,720 to find how much the moon is changing. 32 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:38,900 That is the surface is being 33 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:41,090 bombarded much more then we ever 34 00:01:41,090 --> 00:01:44,120 expected over such a short period of time. 35 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,300 So we have seen how much the moon is changing and how dynamic 36 00:01:47,300 --> 00:01:50,320 of a place it really is. 37 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,380 What can our moon teach us about other mysterious places 38 00:01:53,380 --> 00:01:56,400 deeper in the solar system? 39 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,410 Studying the moon serves as a 40 00:01:59,410 --> 00:02:02,420 way to compare with other objects 41 00:02:02,420 --> 00:02:04,430 in the solar system. 42 00:02:04,430 --> 00:02:06,450 So for example the New Horizons 43 00:02:06,450 --> 00:02:08,460 mission has sent back pictures 44 00:02:08,460 --> 00:02:10,470 of Pluto and what we've found 45 00:02:10,470 --> 00:02:12,490 is that it's much different then 46 00:02:12,490 --> 00:02:14,510 we expected. We didn't see 47 00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:16,520 the impact craters that we thought we were 48 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,530 going to see. 49 00:02:18,530 --> 00:02:20,540 Like we expect comparing it to the moon 50 00:02:20,540 --> 00:02:22,710 so this is telling us that the environment 51 00:02:22,710 --> 00:02:24,720 is much different 52 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,900 and the planet 53 00:02:26,900 --> 00:02:29,090 itself is changing in 54 00:02:29,090 --> 00:02:32,270 evolving that we never expected. 55 00:02:32,270 --> 00:02:35,470 Where can we learn more? 56 00:02:35,470 --> 00:02:39,480 Go to nasa.gov/lro 57 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,500 to see more about the LRO mission and 58 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:46,520 studying the moon and the solar system 59 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,550 and if you take pictures of the supermoon 60 00:02:48,550 --> 00:02:50,580 share them on social media 61 00:02:50,580 --> 00:02:53,770 with #NASAsupermoon 62 00:02:53,770 --> 00:02:54,452