'Supermoon,' Meteor Shower Make for Sky-Watching Double Feature

Grab your telescopes and cameras and look skyward this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday (May 5- 6) a "supermoon" of 2012 and the Eta Aquarid meteor shower will both hit their peak, reports the Huffington Post.

While the bright full moon could interfere with the meteor display, some of the shower's brightest fireballs should still be visible late Saturday and early Sunday, NASA scientists say, said the report.

In addition, astronomers are saying that the "supermoon" will be even more super than usual.

“The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993,” Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. told USA Today.

This supermoon (a phrase coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979) will appear especially large because the moment of perigee—when the moon is closest to the Earth in its monthly rotation—will coincide with the appearance of a perfectly full moon, Smithsonian points out. During last year’s supermoon on March 19, 2011, for comparison, the perigee and full moon were 50 minutes apart.

The moon will be 221,802 miles away from Earth Saturday night; (the average distance is 238,855 according to NASA.) That’s 17,053 miles closer.

This all translates to a moon that will appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons this year, according to NASA. (An astronomer interviewed by National Geographic says 16 percent bigger.)

Before you get too excited, though, be aware that the difference between this supermoon and other full moons may not be particularly discernable to the casual observer.

Dr. Ed Krupp of the Griffith Observatory spoke about the phenomenon on CBS's KNX 1070 Newsradio. Krupp said that the moon will not look that much different than normal.

“It is a little closer, it is a little brighter, but the eye is really not able to detect the difference,” Krupp said.

If you're planning on hosting a lunar viewing party, start looking to the horizon for “a pretty spectacular moonrise,” said Anthony Cook, an astronomical observer at the . The moon actually won't become totally full until 8:35 p.m., he said, and it then will be perigee, or super, at 8:40 p.m.

If you would like to see the supermoon with an unobscured view, Griffith Observatory is open to the public until 10 p.m. Saturday, with telescopes available until 9:30 p.m. The telescopes will also be available to see Saturn’s rings.

Cloudless skies are best for viewing, of course. The skies above Agoura Hills will be mostly clear Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Let us know in the comments where you plan to watch the Super Moon. And if you take any photos, be sure to add them to this post.