'Supermoon' to Rise Over Southland Saturday Night

A "supermoon" will rise over the Southland Saturday night, and will be 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons of 2012, according to Dr. James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, who explains the phenomenon on NASA's website.

A "supermoon"—the term coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979—occurs when the moon's orbit reaches its closest point to the Earth. This moon will be extra super, though, because it will also be "gloriously full" at the same time, Garvin said.

The best time to photograph a supermoon is when the planet is low on the Earth's horizon.

"For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects," Garvin said.

The difference between this supermoon and other full moons may not be particularly discernible to the casual observer, some say.

Dr. Ed Krupp of the Griffith Observatory spoke about the phenomenon on CBS's KNX 1070 Newsradio. He said 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.

Snap any photos of the supermoon? Share them in the above gallery.