The largest supermoon in nearly 70 years lit the cloudless sky over Evanston Monday night, November 14, 2016. The world is being treated to supermoons in 3 successive months this fall, but the November supermoon tops them all.

Due to the elliptical orbit of the moon around the earth, its distance from our planet varies. A full moon is characterized as a “supermoon” when its orbit brings it closer to the earth and it therefore appears at least 14% larger than a typical moon and 30% brighter. Tonight’s moon is about 30,000 miles closer to the earth than usual. The moon’s orbit has not brought it this close to earth since 1948 and it won’t be this close again until November 24, 2034.